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Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 


JULIA    MARLOWE 


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Sock  &?  Biiskifi  Biographies 


JULIA    MARLOWE 


JOHN    D.    BARRY 


Richard  G.  Badger  l^  Co. 

BOSTON 


CnpYRir.HT    1899 
By   Richard    G.  Badger  &f  Co. 


All  Rights   Reser-veJ 

FA' 


Sock  &f  Bicskin  Biographies, 


JULIA    MARLOWE. 
1. 

IN  the  early  seventies  a  party  of  English 
colonists,  most  of  them  farmers,  came  from 
the  north  of  England  to  America,  and  set- 
tled on  the  farm  lands  in  Kansas.  The 
colony  failed,  and  some  of  its  members  went 
to  Kansas  City.  Among  them  were  John 
Frost  and  his  wife  and  three  children,  the 
eldest  of  whom,  Sarah  Frances,  born  in  the 
village  of  Caldbeck,  in  Cumberlandshire,  and 
then  about  five  years  of  age,  is  now  known 
to  playgoers  as  Julia  Marlowe.  In  Kansas 
City,  Frances  Frost,  as  she  was  then  called, 
had  her  first  schooling,  continued  later  in 
Cincinnati,  where  the  family  moved.  In 
Cincinnati,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  she  made 
her  first  appearance  on  the  stage  as  a  mem- 


2  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

ber  of  the  chorus  in  a  "  Pinafore  "  company, 
recruited  very  largely  from  the  pupils  of  the 
public  schools  in  Cincinnati  by  Colonel 
R.  E.  J.  Miles,  a  theatrical  manager  of  re- 
pute, and  directed  by  his  sister-in-law,  Miss 
Ada  Dow,  a  stock  actress  of  considerable 
experience.  Later  she  played  Sir  Joseph 
Porter  under  the  name  of  Fanny  Brough, 
her  mother's  family  name ;  Suzanne,  in 
"  The  Chimes  of  Normandy  "  ;  and  a  page 
in  "  The  Little  Duke."  She  had  a  pretty 
singing-voice  ;  and,  though  not  a  quick  study, 
she  showed  aptitude  for  stage  work.  It  is 
worth  noting  here  that  none  of  her  family 
had  ever  been  known  to  be  associated  in  any 
way  with  the  theatre. 

In  the  next  few  years  the  name  of  Fanny 
Brough  appeared  on  the  play  bills  as  little 
Heinrich  in  "  Rip  Van  Winkle,"  in  support 
of  Robert  McWade,  and  later  in  the  com- 
pany of  Miss  Josephine  Riley,  an  actress 
whom  Colonel  Miles  was  starring  through 
the  West.  Her  parts  with  Miss  Riley  in- 
cluded Maria  in  "Twelfth  Night,"  Balthazar 
in  "  Romeo  and  Juliet,"   Stephen  in  "  The 


Parthcnia  in  ••  Jnguinar  " 


Cc/'yright,  i^'^S,  by  li.J.  lalk,  .\.  Y 

Parthciiia  in  "  Ingomar  " 


yulia  Marlowe  3 

Hunchback,"  and  Myrene  in  "  Pygmalion 
and  Galatea."  It  is  said  that  she  played 
Maria  with  great  vivacity,  though  she  was 
hardly  old  enough  to  understand  the  lines. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen,  Fanny  Brough  dis- 
appeared from  the  stage,  and,  under  the  di- 
rection of  Miss  Dow,  began  a  course  of  study 
in  New  York,  lasting  for  three  years,  in  prep- 
aration for  her  career  as  Julia  Marlowe. 
It  has  been  said  that  Miss  Dow  is  the 
aunt  of  Julia  Marlowe,  but  there  is  no  rela- 
tionship between  them.  Miss  Marlowe  has 
herself  explained  that  Miss  Dow  was  her 
adopted  aunt.  Her  instruction  consisted  of 
the  study  of  plays,  chiefly  classical  pieces, 
the  interpretation  of  the  leading  characters, 
and  of  lessons  in  singing,  fencing,  deport- 
ment, and  in  French.  At  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning  she  would  begin  work,  studying 
till  noon  alone.  After  luncheon  she  would 
put  on  a  long-trained  gown,  and  rehearse 
with  her  aunt  the  character  she  had  been 
preparing.  In  her  teaching.  Miss  Dow  had 
the  wisdom  to  allow  her  pupil  to  develop 
her  own  conceptions.      She   never  explained 


4  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

how  a  line  should  be  read  or  showed  by 
example  how  a  character  should  be  played. 
She  merely  stood  aside  and  criticised.  In 
this  way  Miss  Marlowe,  instead  of  imitating 
her  teacher,  as  many  students  of  acting  do, 
learned  to  rely  on  herself,  and  to  work  on 
original  lines.  The  daily  lesson  lasted  dur- 
ing most  of  the  afternoon,  and  was  resumed 
after  dinner.  Occasionally  the  monotony  of 
the  tasks  was  broken  by  visits  to  the  theatre. 
During  this  time  Julia  Marlowe  saw  Mary 
Anderson,  Clara  Morris,  and  a  few  other 
well-known  players.  She  was  particularly 
impressed  by  the  acting  of  Miss  Clara 
Morris,  from  the  study  of  whose  deliberate 
and  effective  methods  she  believes  that  she 
received  valuable  suggestions. 

At  this  time  there  were  fewer  schools  of 
acting  in  this  country  than  there  are  now, 
and  an  aspirant  to  the  stage  had  usually 
the  choice  of  securing  a  precarious  start  in 
playing  small  roles  in  inferior  road-com- 
panies, or  of  preparing  for  a  more  ambitious 
beginning  by  studying  with  a  retired  actor 
or  with  one  of  the  manv  teachers  of  elocu- 


yulia  Marlowe  5 

tion.  With  few  exceptions,  the  teachers  of 
elocution  were  very  poor  trainers  for  acting. 
Their  pupils  were  taught  an  absurdly  artificial 
manner  of  speech  and  affected  tricks  which, 
after  a  little  experience,  if  they  were  clever, 
they  soon  learned  to  discard.  Some  of  the 
actors,  however,  were  able  to  give  helpful 
instruction.  Mary  Anderson,  for  example, 
sought  the  aid  of  the  elder  Vandenhofl^,  who 
for  years  had  been  teaching  successfully  in 
New  York.  But  most  actors  have  little  faith 
in  training  for  their  work  :  they  believe  that 
the  only  way  to  learn  to  act  is  by  acting. 
The  best  that  the  dramatic  schools  can  do  is 
to  give  their  pupils  a  sound  education  and 
practice  in  playing  a  variety  of  parts.  In 
fact,  if  the  first  requirement  is  achieved,  the 
foundation  is  laid  for  a  career  justified  by 
talent.  Without  talent,  no  education  in  the 
world  can  make  a  good  actor.  Most  of  our 
players  show  their  defects,  not  in  lack  of  tem- 
peramental qualities,  but  in  vulgarities  of 
speech,  manner,  and  taste.  The  theatre  in 
itself  is  a  great  school,  but  it  rarely  eradicates 
defects  that  ought  to  have  been  overcome  in 


6  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

early  youth.  Apparently,  Miss  Marlowe  had 
no  serious  defects  of  manner  to  overcome,  or, 
if  she  did.  Miss  Dow  corrected  them  before 
her  pupil  made  a  public  appearance.  On 
her  first  appearance,  Miss  Marlowe  spoke 
the  purest  of  all  English,  which  is  the  Eng- 
lish that  betrays  the  accent  of  no  particular 
locality ;  and  she  had  the  bearing  of  a  well- 
bred  young  woman.  She  says  that  in  the 
matter  of  carriage  she  was  her  own  teacher. 
One  day  she  happened  to  catch  a  glimpse  of 
herself  in  a  large  mirror  as  she  was  walking. 
She  was  startled  by  the  ugly  movement  of 
her  hips,  and  she  determined  to  correct  the 
fault  at  once.  At  the  time  she  was  passing 
the  summer  on  the  Jersey  coast ;  and  early 
every  morning  she  paced  the  shore  with  her 
hands  pressing  down  on  her  hips,  till  she  had 
remedied  the  fault.  Even  in  her  begin- 
nings, she  never  offended  against  taste.  She 
had  not,  to  be  sure,  the  plasticity  which 
Lawrence  Barrett  used  to  insist  upon  as  an 
essential  to  good  acting ;  but  she  was  young 
enough  to  acquire  it.  By  determining  to 
appear    in    a    repertory,   she    was    likely    to 


yulia  Marlozve  7 

acquire  it  much  more  rapidly  than  the  aver- 
age beginner,  who  is  permitted  to  play  only 
a  half-dozen  parts  in  the  same  number  of 
years. 


II. 

A  I'  the  beginning  of  her  work,  Miss  Dow 
had  not  thought  of  attempting  to  launch 
Miss  Marlowe  as  a  star.  But  she  became 
convinced  that  her  pupil  would  in  time  be- 
come strong  enough  to  play  emotional  and 
classical  parts  at  the  head  of  a  company. 
So,  after  three  years,  she  searched  for  a  man- 
ager ;  but  no  manager  would  consent  to  try 
to  establish  an  unknown  player.  Finally, 
in  the  spring  of  1887,  Colonel  Miles  organ- 
ized a  company,  and  took  Miss  Marlowe 
for  a  brief  tour  through  Connecticut,  during 
which  she  appeared  as  Parthenia.  He  also 
engaged  New  York  Bijou  Theatre,  then 
called  the  Bijou  Opera  House,  and  arranged 
to  present  Miss  Marlowe  there  at  a  special 
performance  on  the  afternoon  of  Thursday, 
Oct.  20,  1887. 

The  time  chosen  for  introducing  the 
actress  was  more  favorable  than  Miss  Mar- 
lowe's friends  could  have  realized.  There 
were  then  few  actresses  on  our  stage  who 
were  devoting  themselves  to  legitimate  plays, 
8 


Juliet  in  "  Romeo  and  Juliet  " 


Parthenia  in  "  Ingomar  " 


Julia  Marlowe  9 

and  of  these  most  of  the  more  successful 
came  from  France  and  England  for  visits  of 
a  season  at  a  time.  Madame  Modjeska,  it 
is  true,  was  displaying  her  beautiful  art  in 
a  repertory  largely  classic  ;  and  Miss  Mary 
Anderson,  her  fame  magnified  by  successes 
in  Great  Britain,  could  feel  assured  of  attract- 
ing enormous  audiences  in  any  American 
theatre  where  she  might  appear.  But  even 
at  that  time  Miss  Anderson  was  contem- 
plating the  retirement  into  private  life,  which 
took  place  not  long  afterward;  and  Madame 
Modjeska  was  no  longer  young.  A  few 
years  before.  Miss  Margaret  Mather,  an 
actress  with  remarkable  temperament,  whose 
first  appearance  had  been  noisily  trumpeted, 
had  bitterly  disappointed  her  first  admirers, 
her  art  growing  more  vulgar  and  coarse 
with  experience.  So  there  was  room  in  the 
American  theatre  for  an  actress  with  ambition 
to  devote  herself  to  the  best  in  the  drama, 
who  could  bring  to  it  youth,  beauty,  grace, 
and  temperament. 

It  was  probably  in  order  to  display   these 
qualities   to  particular  advantage    that    Miss 


lo  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

Dow  chose  for  her  pupil's  first  appearance 
Maria  Lovell's  well-known  adaptation  from 
the  German.  "Ingomar"  is  not  a  great 
play,  but  in  its  kind  it  is  a  good  play. 
Our  audiences  still  love  romance,  but  the 
romance  of  action,  the  romance  that  Dumas 
loved  and  that  he  passed  on  to  Anthony 
Hope,  not  the  grandiloquent  sentimentaliz- 
ings  of  the  German  novelists  and  the  old- 
fashioned  playwrights.  Ten  years  ago  "  In- 
gomar "  had  possibly  a  little  more  vitality 
than  is  now  left  in  it,  though  it  has  lately 
been  revived  by  so  modern  an  actress  as 
Miss  Julia  Arthur.  Much  of  its  late  popu- 
larity was  probably  due  to  the  success  of 
Mary  Anderson  in  the  leading  part,  which 
peculiarly  suited  her  rather  declamatory  stvle. 
The  audience  that  assembled  to  see  Miss 
Marlowe,  it  is  safe  to  assume,  was  composed 
very  largely  of  cynical  playgoers.  In  New 
York  the  debutante^  before  she  has  proven 
that  she  possesses  ability,  is  always  an  ob- 
ject of  amusement  or  pity,  or  both.  The 
first  appearance  of  an  actress  in  an  important 
character,  however,  is  an  interesting  event ; 


Julia  Marlowe  1 1 

and  it  generally  fills  a  New  York  theatre. 
It  would  be  a  mistake  to  say  that  those  who 
saw  Miss  Marlowe's  Parthenia  believed  that 
she  was  a  great  actress.  Several  experi- 
enced judges  of  acting,  however,  thought 
she  had  the  qualifications  that  made  a  good 
actress.  A  few  even  declared  that  she  gave 
the  promise  of  greatness.  The  venture 
served  the  purpose  of  attracting  to  her  the 
attention  of  theatrical  managers,  of  influen- 
tial actors,  and  of  discerning  critics.  Before 
a  week  had  passed,  Miss  Marlowe  received 
several  offers  of  engagements  in  travelling 
companies,  among  others  one  from  Mr. 
William  Gillette,  who  at  once  appreciated 
her  quality,  and  who  believed  that  she  was 
ideally  suited  to  an  important  character  in  a 
new  play  which  he  was  then  preparing  to 
present  on  tour. 

The  significance  of  Miss  Marlowe's  first 
appearance  in  New  York  makes  the  event 
worth  recording  at  some  length.  The  cast 
was  as  follows  :  — 

Ingomar Mr.  Frank  Evans. 

Alastor Mr.  J.  Brennan. 


1 2  Sock  &  Bicskin  B iographies 

Myron Mr.  C.  Leslie  Allen. 

Timarch Mr.  George  Nash. 

Polydor Mr.  F.  J.  Currier. 

Lykor Mr.  B.  Henderson. 

Amytar Mr.  J.  Daymond. 

Elphenor Mr.  C.  Williams. 

Adrastas Mr.  F.  Walton. 

Novio Mr.  B.  H.  Pierce. 

Trenobantes Mr.  William  Cummings. 

Ambivar Mr.  F.  Wilson. 

Samo Mr.  L.  Cotier. 

Actea Miss  Effie  Wild. 

Theano Miss  Isabelle  Waldron. 

Parthenia Miss  Julia  Marlowe. 

The  notices  of  the  dramatic  critics  show 
plainly  that  Miss  Marlowe  gave  the  audi- 
ence a  surprise.  Mr.  William  Winter,  un- 
fortunately, was  not  present :  he  may  have 
felt  that  it  was  not  worth  his  while  to  go 
to  see  a  raw  young  actress  disport  herself. 
Other  critics  of  importance,  however,  were 
there ;  and  the  notice  by  Mr.  Edward  A. 
Dithmar,  of  the  Times^  a  writer  of  sympathy 
and  discernment,  is  especially  interesting. 
Here  it  is,  in  part:  — 

"  Miss     Marlowe    is     not    a     spectacular 


Julia  Marlowe  13 

Parthenia.  She  did  not  conquer  by  a 
glance  or  a  gesture.  She  is  not  statuesque. 
She  is  comely  and  of  good  figure,  but  not 
beautiful.  Her  eyes  are  the  most  attractive 
feature  of  her  face,  which  is  uncommonly 
mobile  and  intelligent.  She  depicted  the 
simplicity  and  love  of  the  Greek  maiden  in 
a  sensible,  straightforward  manner  that  con- 
vinced the  minds  and  touched  the  hearts  of 
everybody  present  who  had  a  mind  and  a 
heart.  Her  work  was  marked  by  none  of 
the  failings  of  the  novice.  Her  touch  was 
always  sure,  and  she  impressed  the  critical 
observer  with  a  sense  of  the  ability  to  cal- 
culate beforehand  the  actual  effect  of  every 
look  and  gesture.  This  is  a  faculty  that 
three-fifths  of  the  actors  now  on  the  stage 
do  not  possess.  Her  conception  of  the 
character  was  clear  and  reasonable ;  her  exe- 
cution of  it,  womanly  and,  above  all,  intelli- 
gent. She  had  no  '  great  moments.'  She 
made  no  conspicuous  points. 

"  But  her  grasp  of  the  character  never 
relaxed,  and  she  preserved  the  illusion  under 
the    most    distressing    surroundings.      The 


14  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

episode  of  the  song  of  love  was  treated 
daintily  and  without  exaggeration.  The  de- 
fiance of  Ingomar  was  true  and  affecting,  and 
not  stagy.  She  expressed  the  anger  of  the 
girl  very  vividly,  and  without  resort  to  any 
hackneyed  artifice.  She  was  equally  suc- 
cessful with  every  other  phase  of  the  role. 
She  did  not  carry  her  expression  of  love 
to  the  limits  of  great,  absorbing  passion  ;  but 
Parthenia  is  not  a  woman  of  strong  passions. 

"  In  depicting  the  ingenuousness  of  the 
girl,  she  was  not  too  coy.  When  she  wept, 
the  tears  seemed  to  be  real ;  and  her  smiles 
seemed  to  be  the  reflection  of  a  sunny 
temperament.  Her  voice  is  strong  and 
pleasing ;  and,  if  she  has  a  singing  voice, 
it  ought  to  be  pure  contralto.  The  tones 
are  never  mannish ;  and,  best  of  all,  she 
speaks  the  English  language  very  well." 

The  gentleman  who  used  to  write  volum- 
inously on  the  theatre  under  the  pseudonym 
of"  Nym  Crinkle  "  was  also  pleased  with  the 
new  actress.  "  The  old,  old  story  of  '  Ingo- 
mar,' "  he  wrote  in  the  New  York  Worlds 
"  was  told  yesterday  afternoon  at   the  Bijou 


\  iolu  in  ••Twcltth  Nieht  "' 


Copyri^lit,  /iii,  I'V  B.J.  J-a/k,  X.)' 

Julia  in  ••  The  Hunchback  " 


Jtclia  Marlowe  15 

Theatre.  It  is  a  pretty  story  of  the  power 
of  affection  over  brute  force,  and  it  was  told 
with  new  earnestness  and  new  gentleness  by 
a  young  woman  who  was  unknown  to  her 
audience,  but  who  speedily  won  their  atten- 
tion and  their  respect  for  her  sure  dramatic 
instinct  and  her  delicate  accuracy  of  method. 
.  .  .  Miss  Julia  Marlowe  infused  the  old 
lines  with  an  intelligent  charm,  and,  after 
riveting  the  attention,  commanded  the  ap- 
probation by  an  effective,  tender,  and  legiti- 
mately dramatic  rendering  of  the  role.  She 
is  a  good-looking  girl,  of  medium  height, 
with  an  expressive  face  and  perfect  command 
of  her  powers.  She  betrayed  none  of  the 
usual  nervousness  of  amateurs  and  none  of 
the  self-consciousness  of  cerebral  novices. 
Her  understanding  of  the  inner  significance 
of  Parthenia's  part  was  clear,  and  her  mani- 
festation of  it  artistic,  sympathetic,  and 
natural.  To  an  intelligent  purpose  she 
added  a  picturesque  manner,  and  so,  with 
simple  touches,  adorned  the  old  role  and 
won  her  observers  delicately  and  irresistibly." 
Less  enthusiastic,  but  altogether  encourag- 


1 6  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

ing,  was  the  notice  that  appeared  in  the  New 
York  Herald :  — 

"  The  impersonation,  despite  certain  faults, 
due  chiefly  to  lack  of  much  experience,  was 
in  many  ways  charming  and  on  occasion 
forcible.  The  actress  has  a  voice  that  falls 
pleasantly  on  the  ear,  large,  limpid  eyes, 
full  of  expression,  and  a  mobile,  sensitive 
mouth.  In  stature  Miss  Marlowe  is  medium  ; 
and  she  is  graceful,  and  made  a  pretty  pict- 
ure. The  young  lady  read  her  lines  with 
full  appreciation  of  their  intention,  and  mir- 
rored in  her  face,  with  delightful  ingenuous- 
ness, the  workings  of  her  mind  and  the 
emotions  which  stirred  her  heart.  It  was  a 
pretty  presentation  of  fresh  young  woman- 
hood. The  faults  of  the  actress  are  a  lack 
of  repose  where  it  is  called  for,  an  excess  of 
gesturing,  and  too  many  bright  smiles.  At 
times  also  she  did  too  much  by-play  in  looks 
and  action." 

Among  the  warmest  of  Miss  Marlowe's 
admirers  on  this  occasion  was  the  late  Colonel 
Ingersoll.  His  published  praises,  copied 
widely   in    the    press,    and    commented    on 


yulia  Marlowe  17 

throughout   the  country,  did   much   to   start 
the  actress  on   the  road  to  success. 

When  an  actress  begins  her  career  at  the 
top,  as  the  theatrical  expression  is,  she  is 
likely  to  be  subjected  to  pretty  searching 
criticism.  Her  severest  critics,  moreover, 
usually  belong  to  her  own  profession. 
Actors  who  have  served  years  of  apprentice- 
ship resent  what  they  look  upon  as  the 
presumption  of  a  novice  in  taking  at  the 
start  a  position  which  has  always  been  their 
own  goal,  to  be  reached  through  hard 
experience.  Mary  Anderson  has  described 
in  her  autobiography  the  open  ridicule  to 
which  she  was  subjected  from  the  members 
of  the  company  who  played  with  her  on  her 
first  public  appearance.  Miss  Marlowe, 
however,  does  not  appear  to  have  suffered 
from  any  such  prejudice.  Many  critics,  it 
is  true,  denied  her  authority  to  appear  in 
leading  roles ;  but  even  from  these  she  re- 
ceived some  encouragement.  On  the  other 
hand  there  were  many  more  critics  who 
offered  her  the  most  stimulating  praise.  It 
has  lately  been   said   that,  when    Miss    Mar- 


1 8         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

lowe  appeared  as  a  star,  she  was  really  not 
a  novice;  that  her  training  as  a  child  actress 
had  prepared  her  for  her  later  career.  It  is 
very  much  to  be  doubted,  however,  if  her 
brief  stage  experience  as  a  child  was  of  the 
least  service  to  her.  Miss  Marlowe  herself 
is  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  not.  The 
acting  of  a  child  is  wholly  different  from  that 
of  an  adult.  Most  children  can  be  taught 
to  act  fairly  well ;  some  of  them,  indeed,  to 
act  delightfully,  their  unconsciousness  en- 
abling them  to  reproduce  nature  with  ease 
and  simplicity.  The  effect  that  children 
create  so  artlessly,  however,  is  in  the  case 
of  most  adult  performers  the  result  of 
thought  and  of  developed  instinct.  It  is 
nevertheless  true  that  the  art  of  the  greatest 
actors,  the  actors  by  temperament,  most  re- 
sembles the  artlessness  of  children.  On  the 
stage  they  throw  off  their  identities,  and 
become  the  character  they  impersonate. 
Usually,  however,  the  actor's  talent,  even 
when  it  is  a  fine  talent,  is  hampered  by  con- 
sciousness, and,  sometimes,  paradoxical  as  it 
may  seem,  by  intelligence.     The  actor  who 


yulia  Marlowe  19 

relies  on  his  capacity  for  developing  a  part 
intellectually  is  in  for  more  danger  of  blun- 
dering than  the  temperamental  actor,  who 
follows  his  instinct.  This  explains  how 
many  a  born  actor  can  play  with  brilliancy 
roles  that  he  only  partly  understands.  It 
may  safely  be  assumed  that  Miss  Marlowe's 
performances  of  the  part  of  Maria  in 
"  Twelfth  Night,"  which  she  had  learned 
by  rote*and  interpreted  with  a  child's  faculty 
for  imitation  and  with  genuine  spirit,  did  not 
in  the  least  help  her  when  she  came  to  study 
Viola.  She  had  to  learn  to  achieve  effects 
that  she  had  once  been  able  to  achieve  with- 
out effort. 

Time  has  justified  the  wisdom  of  Miss 
Marlowe  in  refusing  to  take  any  of  the 
subordinate  places  in  stock  companies  and 
travelling  organizations  that  were  offered 
her.  If  she  had  accepted  one  of  them,  her 
whole  career  might  have  been  changed.  In 
the  first  place,  she  would  have  been  ham- 
pered in  her  determination  to  become  a 
Shaksperian  actress.  There  are  so  few 
companies     presenting     Shakspere     that    a 


20         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

player  has  almost  no  chance  to  play  Shak- 
sperian  parts.  Moreover,  as  a  subordinate 
actress,  Miss  Marlowe  would  have  had  few 
opportunities  to  develop.  Most  of  our 
American  actors  play  one  part  a  season,  fre- 
quently one  part  for  several  seasons.  Conse- 
quently, they  fall  into  mechanical  habits,  and 
they  lose  the  training  that  they  need.  At 
the  time  Miss  Marlowe  was  making  her 
debut  there  were  not  more  than  *  a  half- 
dozen  stock  companies  of  repute  in  the 
whole  country,  and  even  these  produced  on 
an  average  hardly  more  than  three  or  four  a 
year.  Now  the  situation  is  different :  within 
the  past  three  years  stock  companies  have 
been  established  in  most  of  the  larger  Amer- 
ican cities ;  and,  by  changing  the  bill  every 
week,  they  are  giving  their  actors  a  valuable 
experience. 

As  a  subordinate  member  of  a  company. 
Miss  Marlowe  would  have  suffered  from  the 
suppression  that  cramps  the  individuality  of 
many  a  good  player.  She  would  have  be- 
come a  minor  figure  in  the  stage  picture. 
Only  actors  and  students   of  the  every-day 


Rusiiliiul  ill  ••  A.s  ^  (III  l.ikf  it 


Beatrice  in  ••  Much  Ado  about  Nothing  "" 


Julia  Marlowe  21 

workings  of  the  stage  can  realize  what  this 
signifies.  To  an  actor  of  originahty  it  often 
means  artistic  degradation.  It  means,  also, 
that,  when  he  has  conceived  a  character  in 
his  own  way,  his  ideas  may  clash  with  those 
of  the  star.  Of  course  he  will  have  to  give 
way  and  follow  instructions,  even  if  the  in- 
structions make  his  portraval  imitative  and 
feeble.  In  the  reading  of  the  speeches,  he 
may  be  obliged  to  submerge  his  own  intelli- 
gence to  an  inferior  interpretation.  By  this 
interference  many  a  good  plaver  has  suffered 
discouragement,  occasionally  even  despair. 
It  often  happens  that  actors  are  censured  in 
print  for  playing  parts  not  in  their  own  way 
but  in  the  way  they  have  been  ordered  to 
play  them.  All  such  tyranny  Miss  Mar- 
lowe avoided  by  heading  a  company  of  her 
own.  She  could  hold  the  centre  of  the 
stage,  she  could  follow  the  dictates  of  her 
own  thought  and  instinct,  she  could  be 
judged  on  her  own  merits  and  faults.  If 
she  failed,  she  could  then  fall  back  into  the 
ranks.  She  had  everything  to  gain  and 
nothing  to  lose.  The  start  once  made,  she 
went  valiantly  on. 


III. 

AFTER  the  trial  matinee,  Miss  Marlowe 
retired  to  the  country  where  she  con- 
tinued her  studies.  Mr.  Henry  E.  Abbey 
had  been  persuaded  by  the  success  of  her 
debut  to  let  her  have  the  Star  Theatre  in 
New  York  for  one  week  during  the  season 
to  come.  So  on  the  i8th  of  the  following 
December  she  made  her  first  regular  appear- 
ance in  New  York,  playing  Juliet  to  the 
Romeo  of  that  impassioned  and  versatile 
actor,  Mr.  Joseph  Haworth.  The  New 
York  papers  praised  her,  and  she  seemed  to 
have  made  an  auspicious  start. 

Miss  Marlowe  showed  the  boldness  of 
the  novice  in  undertaking,  at  so  early  a  pe- 
riod in  her  career,  so  difficult  a  Shaksperian 
role  as  Juliet.  The  explanation  of  the  attrac- 
tion of  this  character  for  most  actresses  is 
probably  to  be  found  in  the  variety  of  op- 
portunity that  it  gives  them.  In  the  whole 
range  of  Shaksperian  drama  there  is  not  so 
varied  a  part.  Moreover,  it  is  theatrically 
a  great  piece  of  climatic   development.      In 


Julia  Marlowe  23 

her  first  scene  Juliet  appears  as  a  demure 
school-girl.  Then  she  becomes  the  eager, 
impassioned  woman,  poetic  and  intense  in 
the  balcony  scene,  playful  in  the  scene  with 
the  nurse,  rising  to  sustained  power  in  the 
parting  with  Romeo,  in  the  potion  scene, 
and  in  the  situations  at  the  tomb.  Most 
young  actresses,  on  playing  the  part,  make 
a  wild  rush  at  Juliet,  presenting  her  a 
declamatory  and  shrill  egoist.  Miss  Mar- 
lowe, however,  gave  the  impression  that  she 
approached  the  character  with  timidity,  as  if 
she  could  not  wholly  comprehend  it,  as  if 
she  was,  in  fact,  bewildered  by  it.  In  her 
balcony  scene  she  was  tender  and  girlish, 
but  she  never  even  suggested  passion.  The 
scene  of  her  first  meeting  with  Romeo,  how- 
ever, and  her  wheedling  of  the  nurse  were 
exquisitely  played.  If  she  did  not  rise  to 
the  tragic  intensity  of  the  stronger  situa- 
tions, she  never  offended  by  attempting 
what  she  could  not  achieve.  Even  in  those 
scenes  where  she  frankly  failed,  she  main- 
tained a  very  beautiful  dignity,  and  she  held 
her    audience  bv    her    sincerity    and    by   the 


24         Sock  &  Buskhi  Biographies 

charm  with  which  she  invested  the  char- 
acter. 

Miss  Marlowe  has  since  played  the  part 
nearly  every  season.  It  is  now  become  one 
of  her  finest  impersonations.  Without  los- 
ing in  poetic  quality,  it  has  gained  in  passion 
and  in  vigor.  The  actress  has  not  as  yet 
acquired  sufficient  power  to  bring  out  the 
full  horror  of  the  potion  scene ;  but  her 
treatment  of  this  difficult  episode  is  a  model 
of  discretion.  In  spite  of  its  inadequacies, 
her  Juliet  is  unquestionably  the  best  Juliet 
that  our  stage  has  had  in  the  past  ten  years. 

Later  in  the  week  Miss  Marlowe  ap- 
peared as  Viola  in  "  Twelfth  Night,"  as  Par- 
thenia  in  "  Ingomar."  The  beauty  of  her 
Viola  won  instant  recognition,  and  the  best 
friends  of  the  actress  realized  that  in  this 
part  she  ought  to  have  made  her  first  appeal 
to  the  public.  \vi.  the  whole  Shaksperian 
drama  there  is  not  a  character  that  more 
strongly  demands  temperamental  and  femi- 
nine quality  and  fineness  of  fibre.  That 
Miss  Marlowe  should  at  the  start  have 
made  a  success  in   this  part  was  as  good  a 


yulia  Marlowe  25 

proof  as  she  could  give  ot  her  exceptional 
endowment. 

The  few  weeks  following  the  engagement 
at  the  Star  Theatre  must  have  been  a  trying 
time  for  the  young  actress.  Her  prospects 
looked  doubttul,  just  as  Mary  Anderson's 
had  done  before  the  first  notable  successes 
were  achieved.  There  were  plenty  of  places 
on  the  stage  open  to  Miss  Marlowe;  but 
she  resolved  to  carry  out  her  plan  of  leading 
a  company  that  should  present  a  classical 
repertory.  In  February  she  secured  the 
chance  of  appearing  in  a  series  of  perform- 
ances in  Cincinnati ;  and  here,  on  the  second 
night,  she  made  her  first  appearance  in  the 
first  leading  part  she  had  studied  in  New 
York, —  Julia,  in  "The  Hunchback."  The 
character  perfectly  suited  her,  and  she  kept 
it  in  her  repertory  for  several  seasons.  Of  all 
her  earlier  impersonations  it  was,  perhaps, 
the  most  remarkable,  deliciously  girlish  and 
mirthful  in  the  earlier  scenes  and  deepening 
in  feeling  and  in  beauty  as  the  character 
unfolds. 

All      these     experiences,     however,     were 


26         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

merely  preliminary.  It  was  not  till  the 
autumn  of  1888  that  Miss  Marlowe  began 
her  real  career.  The  company  engaged  to 
support  her  included  such  actors  as  Charles 
Barron,  for  many  years  leading  man  at  the 
Boston  Museum  ;  William  Owen,  the  best 
Shaksperian  comedian  in  this  country ; 
Robert  Taber,  then  winning  his  spurs  as  lead- 
ing juvenile  ;  and  Miss  Mary  Shaw, —  ver- 
satile and  brilliant  players,  and  notably  suc- 
cessful in  Shaksperian  works.  They  opened 
in  Washington,  where  Miss  Marlowe  was 
warmly  greeted.  The  engagement,  however, 
that  may  be  said  to  have  made  certain  her 
future  as  a  "  star "  began  a  few  weeks 
later  in  Boston.  The  Boston  playgoers 
of  that  period  must  remember  the  im- 
pression she  made  on  her  audience.  Re- 
ports of  her  ability  had  come  from  New 
York ;  and  on  the  first  night  they  attracted 
to  the  Mollis  Street  Theatre  a  large  audi- 
ence, which  included  the  leading  critics  and 
every  student  of  the  drama.  The  play  was 
"  Ingomar,"  and  Miss  Marlowe's  Parthenia 
was  received  with  astonishment  and  delight. 


Imogen  in  "  Cvnibclinc  '" 


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CopyrigJit,  iSqj,  i<y  B.  J.  Ftilk,  X.  1 ' 

Charles  Hart  in  "  Rogues  and  Vagabonds" 


yulia  Marlowe  27 

On  the  following  evening  "  Twelfth  Night " 
was  given,  and  to  the  writer  of  these  lines 
it  will  always  be  memorable  as  the  first  time 
he  ever  saw  Julia  Marlowe  play  the  part 
with  which  he  will  always  associate  her.  At 
that  time  the  actress  was  plainly  a  novice, 
shy,  even  shrinking,  with  a  curious,  depre- 
cating manner,  as  if  imploring  the  patience  of 
the  audience  and  afraid  even  of  its  applause. 
And  yet  that  manner  added  to  the  charm 
of  the  performance.  Moreover,  the  hesi- 
tancy in  action  of  this  Viola  was  offset  by 
an  unfaltering  intelligence  and  correctness 
in  the  reading  of  the  lines,  by  a  distinctness 
of  enunciation,  and  by  the  sweetest  and 
richest  voice  heard  on  the  stage  in  many  a 
year.  The  girlish  face,  too,  luminous  with 
sympathy  without  being  really  beautiful,  had 
an  exquisite  charm.  Julia  Marlowe  had  not 
been  on  the  stage  five  minutes  before  she 
held  the  attention  ot  the  audience. 

It  was  by  her  performance  of  Viola 
that  Miss  Marlowe  convinced  most  play- 
goers during  her  first  season  that  a  young 
actress  had  arrived  who  was  peculiarly  fitted 


28  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

to  play  Shakspere.  Her  reading  of  Viola 
speeches  was  a  delight  to  the  ear.  Admirers 
of  Adelaide  Neilson,  who  must  have  been 
the  most  beloved  actress  of  her  time,  one  of 
the  most  beloved  actresses  of  all  time,  com- 
pared Miss  Marlowe's  voice  to  hers.  Her 
diction,  too,  inspired  the  most  -enthusiastic 
praise.  Unlike  most  actors  of  the  present 
day,  even  famous  actors,  she  brought  out  the 
music  of  the  Shaksperian  verse.  There  was 
no  living  actress,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  Miss  Ellen  Terry,  who  could  read  with 
such  feeling  and  charm  the  lines  begin- 
ning :  — 

♦*  A  blank,  my  lord.  She  never  told  her  love  ; 
But  let  concealment,  like  a  worm  in  the  bud. 
Feed  on  her  damask  cheek." 

Unlike  another  American  actress  who 
undertook  to  play  the  part  of  Viola  at  about 
this  time,  Miss  Marlowe  did  not  sentimental- 
ize these  lines :  she  read  them  simply  and 
modestly,  letting  them  carry  their  own 
pathos.  The  discretion  and  self-restraint 
which  she  showed  in  this  treatment  of  this 


Julia  Marlowe  29 

speech  and  of  other  speeches  similar  in 
character  were  perhaps  the  best  proofs  she 
could  have  offered  of  her  instinctive  sense 
of  artistic  propriety. 

At  the  Wednesday  matinee  following  her 
performance  of  Viola,  Miss  Marlowe  ap- 
peared as  Pauline  in  the  "  Lady  of  Lyons." 
By  including  this  piece  in  her  repertory,  she 
followed  in  what  might  be  called  the  pseudo- 
classical  tradition.  Nearly  all  of  the  ambi- 
tious emotional  actresses  of  the  past  half- 
century  have  wanted  to  play  Pauline.  As  a 
work  of  art,  the  drama  is  of  course  con- 
temptible ;  but  it  still  has  value  as  a  piece 
of  theatrical  property.  Those  of  us  who 
like  to  take  the  theatre  seriously  or  whose 
business  it  is  to  write  about  plays  are  in- 
clined to  forget  that  audiences  do  not  con- 
sider motives  and  intentions  scientifically, 
weighing  probabilities  and  listening  to  see  if 
phrases  balance  or  wear  a  colloquial  natural- 
ness. They  go  to  plays  to  be  taken  out  of 
themselves,  and  they  are  ready  to  let  their 
feelings  be  stirred,  whether  to  mirth  or 
sympathy.       Now   "The    Lady   of  Lyons," 


30         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

stilted  and  forced  as  It  is,  makes  a  strong 
appeal  to  the  average  theatre-goer.  It  first 
interests,  then  it  presents  a  sentimental 
problem,  which  is  always  delicious.  When 
Claude  Melnotte  is  inspired  by  a  profound 
passion  for  Pauline  to  win  her  through 
deceit,  and  after  being  exposed,  is  driven 
to  the  wild  expedient  of  fleeing  to  the  wars, 
the  spectator  is  on  the  qui  vive  to  know 
how  those  two  people  are  to  be  brought 
together  again.  To  inflame  curiosity  is  a 
great  triumph  for  the  theatrical  artificers,  and 
it  secures  for  his  work  a  long  lease  of  life. 
So,  though  "  The  Lady  of  Lyons  "  is  being 
slowly  laughed  out  of  existence,  it  is  by  no 
means  dead  yet.  At  any  rate,  it  served 
Miss  Marlowe  to  give  a  new  exhibition  of 
her  skill  in  the  more  delicate  phases  of  her 
art ;  and  it  also,  unfortunately,  made  a  clear 
revelation  of  her  deficiencies.  Her  Pauline 
was  beautiful  and  tender  and  pathetic,  but 
it  never  fulfilled  the  requirements  where 
force  and  passion  were  to  be  expressed. 

Later    in    the    week,   during    the    Boston 
engagement,    Miss    Marlowe    was    seen    as 


yulia  Marlowe  31 

Juliet,  which  disappointed  some  of  her  sin- 
cerest  admirers,  and  as  Julia  in  "  The 
Hunchback."  In  reviewing  the  whole  of 
this  engagement,  Miss  Mildred  Aldrich,  a 
critic  of  insight  then  writing  for  the  Boston 
Home  Journal^  and  one  of  the  first  to 
appreciate  Miss  Marlowe's  gifts,  made  with 
reference  to  her  Julia  comments  that  give 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  impression  the  actress 
made  on  her  audiences  at  this  time :  "  It 
was  in  this  role  that  Miss  Marlowe  showed 
the  wealth  of  her  young  nature  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  it  was  here  likewise  that  what 
she  has  yet  to  acquire  was  the  most  visible. 
As  a  character,  her  Julia  was  lovable  and 
attractive.  As  a  performance,  it  was  kindled 
with  the  most  magnetic  qualities  of  the 
charming  temperament  of  woman's  complex 
nature.  As  often  happens.  Miss  Marlowe 
was  least  successful  with  what  would  at  first 
sight  seem  the  easiest, —  the  comedy  of  the 
first  act.  Here  her  shyness  had  too  often 
a  realistic  rather  than  naturalistic  eftect, 
which  gave  discomfort  to  the  spectator 
rather  than   pleasure.      With    her   success  in 


32  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

the  later  scenes  no  such  fault  could  be  found. 
Her  sense  of  wounded  pride  against  love 
still  alive  in  a  proud  heart  had  the  true  ring 
of  emotion,  genuine  and  untheatrical,  while 
her  scene  with  Master  Walter,  in  which  she 
begs  protection  against  herself,  was  well 
worthy  the  tribute  of  tears  that  was  paid  it ; 
and  it  was  in  this  scene  that  the  full  beauty 
of  Miss  Marlowe's  voice  revealed  itself. 
The  tears  that  trembled  in  it  without  break- 
ing one  chord  of  its  music  were  as  welcome 
to  the  ear  as  they  were  uncommon." 

After  her  success  as  Viola,  it  might  have 
been  expected  that  Miss  Marlowe  would 
make  a  delightful  Rosalind ;  and  during  this 
season  she  added  the  part  to  her  repertory, 
playing  it,-  however,  only  a  comparatively 
few  times.  Many  of  her  admirers  consider 
that  in  this  character  she  has  done  her  best 
work.  In  spite  of  its  resemblance  to  Viola, 
however,  Rosalind  is  a  far  deeper,  more 
complex  and  difficult  character.  To  play  it, 
an  actress  must  absolutely  let  herself  go. 
Now  this  is  what  Miss  Marlowe  could  not 
do,  what,  in  fact,  she  has  not  yet  learned  to 


Cof-yrij^hl,  iSqi,  by  B.  J.  tnlk\  N.  i'. 

Charlcb  Han  in  ••  Rogues  and  \  agabonJ>  " 


Copyright,  iSqj.  by  H.J.  Faik.  .V. ) ' 

Constance  in  ••  The  Love  Chase  '" 


Julia  Marlowe  33 

do.  The  discretion  that  serves  her  so  ad- 
mirably as  Juhet,  that  keeps  her  from  blun- 
dering, hampers  her  Rosalind.  It  has 
many  good  qualities :  it  is  graceful,  it  is 
merry,  it  is  saturated  with  nice  feeling ;  but 
it  is  always  discreet.  It  lacks  the  abandon  of 
Miss  Ada  Rehan's  Rosalind,  the  subtlety 
of  Madame  Modjeska's.  Nevertheless,  it 
surpasses  both  of  these  notable  impersona- 
tions in  its  realization  of  the  girlish  quali- 
ties of  the  character.  Those  who  are  famil- 
iar with  Miss  Marlowe's  Rosalind  are  likely 
never  to  forget  the  picture  she  makes,  espe- 
cially in  the  scenes  in  the  forest,  where  she 
seems  to  embody  the  very  atmosphere  of 
the  woods.  It  was  in  this  part  that  the  ac- 
tress first  used  her  adult  singing  voice,  a 
delicate,  pretty  mezzo-soprano,  just  strong 
enough  to  fill  the  theatre.  Miss  Marlowe 
has  kept  "  As  You  Like  It"  in  her  reper- 
tory during  the  whole  of  her  career,  and  it 
has  proved  one  of  her  greatest  popular  suc- 
cesses. 

The  emphatic  success  in    Boston  of  Miss 
Marlowe  was    repeated    in    Philadelphia,  in 


34         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

Baltimore,  and  in  Chicago,  which  have  since 
become  great  strongholds  of  her  popularity. 
In  the  smaller  cities  that  she  visited,  too,  she 
received  warm  commendation.  She  won 
favor  not  by  skilful  advertising  or  by  personal 
exploitation,  but  through  her  work  alone. 
A  few  years  before  a  young  debutante  had 
been  sensationally  advertised  in  the  press 
and  exalted  to  a  position  which  she  could 
not  maintain.  The  methods  adopted  in  the 
management  of  Miss  Marlowe  were  far 
more  sensible  and  dignified.  Her  appear- 
ances were  quietly  announced  in  the  news- 
papers, and  such  further  publicity  as  she 
received  came  from  the  dramatic  critics  of 
the  various  cities  and  towns  that  she  visited 
and  from  the  friends  that  she  made  in  her 
audiences.  Interviewers  were  unable  to 
reach  her.  Her  work  taxed  her  full 
strength,  and  she  had  neither  the  time  nor 
the  energy  to  discuss  theories  of  acting. 
Besides,  as  her  manager  used  to  explain 
when  the  interviewers  sought  his  inter- 
cession. Miss  Marlowe  had  nothing  to  say 
in  the  press ;    all  that  she  had  to  say  to  the 


Julia  Marlowe  35 

public  she  said  across  the  foot-Hghts.  This 
reticence  annoyed  the  reporter,  but  deepened 
the  respect  for  so  self-respecting,  reserved, 
and  simple  a  young  actress.  It  helped  to 
place  Miss  Marlowe  in  the  honorable  posi- 
tion that  she  now  holds. 

Great  credit  should  be  given  to  the 
devotion  of  Miss  Dow  to  Miss  Marlowe 
during  this  period.  Though  now  a  suc- 
cessful actress,  Miss  Marlowe  remained  a 
painstaking  pupil.  Miss  Dow  accompanied 
her  to  every  performance,  and  watched  her 
acting,  offering  encouragement  and  criticism. 


IV. 

IN  her  second  season  Miss  Marlowe,  ac- 
companied by  Mr,  Eben  Plympton,  who 
succeeded  Mr.  Taber  in  the  leading  juvenile 
roles,  made  a  strong  feature  of  her  Rosalind 
and  added  to  her  repertory  the  comedy  of 
"  Pygmalion  and  Galatea."  A  few  years  be- 
fore, Mary  Anderson  had  made  one  of  her 
greatest  American  successes  as  Galatea,  and 
had  chosen  it  for  her  debut  in  England,  cap- 
turing London  on  the  first  night.  There  are 
many  of  us  who  think  that  Galatea  was 
the  best  impersonation  Miss  Anderson  ever 
achieved,  not  excepting  her  wonderfully  vital 
and  poetic  acting  of  Perdita  in  "The  Winter's 
Tale."  Indeed,  Miss  Anderson  might  have 
been  created  to  play  this  part ;  and  on  seeing 
her  in  it,  after  seeing  several  of  the  most 
popular  English  actresses  of  his  time  under- 
take It,  W.  S.  Gilbert  must  have  felt  as  if 
he  had  unconsciously  written  it  for  her.  As 
the  statue,  Miss  Anderson's  uncommonly 
tall  and  graceful  figure  created  a  perfect 
illusion.  It  was  easy  to  understand  how,  in 
36 


yulia  Marlowe  37 

London,  one  spectator  made  a  wager  that, 
in  place  of  the  actress,  a  marble  figure  stood 
on  the  pedestal.  Throughout  her  imperson- 
ation her  face  never  assumed  flesh  tints  ;  and 
her  acting  as  well  as  her  looks  made  it  im- 
possible for  you  to  forget  that  she  was  not 
of  flesh,  but  had  been  hewn  out  of  stone. 
She  struck  the  note  of  absolute  ingenuous- 
ness. Other  actresses  had  made  more 
"  points  "  in  the  part ;  but  no  actress  had 
given  so  consistent  and  satisfying  imper- 
sonation. Mrs.  Kendal,  who  played  the 
role  many  vears  ago,  used  to  make  a 
point  in  the  scene  where  Galatea  first  sees 
blood.  Here  Miss  Anderson,  like  most  ac- 
tresses, would  shudder,  and  ask,  with  terror, 
what  the  strange  thing  was.  Mrs.  Kendal, 
on  the  contrary,  dipped  her  finger  in  the 
blood  and  made  a  line  with  it,  looking  at  it 
with  a  curiosity  and  wonder  that  emphasized 
Galatea's  ignorance  of  life.  Like  Miss 
Anderson's,  the  Galatea  of  Julia  Marlowe 
was  played  on  conventional  lines.  Though 
Miss  Marlowe  is  not  a  large  woman,  she  is 
able  to  create  on  the  stage    the    illusion   of 


38  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

height;  and,  though  her  face  and  figure  have 
not  Miss  Anderson's  classic  outlines,  she 
made  a  very  beautiful  picture  as  she  stood 
on  the  pedestal.  In  speech  and  bearing, 
too,  she  kept  the  character  simple  and 
poetic.  After  descending  from  the  pedestal. 
Miss  Marlowe  allowed  color  to  appear  in  her 
face, —  a  precedent  since  followed  by  Miss 
Julia  Arthur.  Those  of  us  who  admired 
Miss  Anderson's  Galatea  are  likely  to  favor 
her  treatment  of  the  character  in  this  regard ; 
but,  of  course,  it  is  largely  a  matter  of  taste. 
Miss  Marlowe  might  say,  "  But  if  Galatea 
opens  her  eyes,  and  shows  eyes  that  are 
human,  why  shouldn't  her  face  look  human  ?  " 
On  the  other  hand,  it  might  be  asked,  "  If 
Galatea's  complexion  is  to  assume  the  tints 
of  life,  why  should  her  hair  remain  the  color 
of  marble,  as  it  always  does  ?  " 

In  the  following  autumn  Miss  Marlowe 
began  her  third  year  of  work  with  very 
ambitious  plans.  Mr.  Creston  Clarke, 
nephew  of  Edwin  Booth  and  a  romantic 
actor  of  promise,  became  her  leading  man ; 
and  she  announced  productions  of  "  Much 


C«/>yrif;/it.  lf\()_;,  h'  II.  J.  I- it  Ik,  N.  ) 

Con>taiuc  ill  "   I'lic  Love  Clia.sc  "' 


Copyriglit,  iS,C)4,  hy  H.J.  Falk,  X.V 

Lctitia  in  "  The  Belle's  Stratagem  " 


yulia  Marlowe  39 

Ado  about  Nothing"  and  "  Cymbeline," 
I*",arlv  in  the  season  she  first  played  in  the 
smaller  places  Beatrice  and  Imogen,  prepar- 
atory to  presenting  them  in  the  larger  cities. 
A  few  weeks  after  starting  out,  however, 
while  appearing  in  Philadelphia,  she  was 
stricken  with  typhoid  fever.  It  was  thought 
that  Miss  Marlowe  would  not  be  able  to 
return  to  the  stage  till  the  following  season, 
and  the  company  was  disbanded ;  but  a 
long  rest  restored  her  strength,  and  she 
made  her  reappearance  in  Baltimore  early  in 
March. 

This  experience  was  the  indirect  means 
of  placing  Miss  Marlowe  on  a  footing  of 
independence.  Since  the  beginning  of  her 
career  she  had  been  bound  by  a  severe  con- 
tract with  Miss  Dow,  which  left  her  no 
liberty.  From  this  contract  she  secured 
her  release,  and  her  business  relations  with 
Miss  Dow  came  to  an  end.  Then  Miss 
Marlowe  emerged  from  the  strict  seclusion 
in  which  she  had  been  kept.  She  entered 
with  zest,  increased  perhaps  by  her  long 
reserve,    into    the    social     amusements     that 


40         Sock  &  Btiskin  Biographies 

were  offered  her.  She  is  now  one  of  the 
most  personally  popular  of  our  actresses. 

After  her  broken  season,  Miss  Marlowe 
resumed  work  in  the  autumn  of  1891  with 
practically  the  repertory  in  which  she  had 
appeared  the  year  before,  making  stronger 
features  of  her  Beatrice  and  Cymbeline, 
and  presenting  in  conjunction  with  "  Pyg- 
malion and  Galatea  "  a  one-act  piece  written 
for  her  by  Malcolm  Bell,  called  "  Rogues 
and  Vagabonds."  Mr.  Robert  Taber  re- 
turned to  her  company  as  leading  juvenile 
to  play  roles  in  which  he  had  already  been 
seen  with  her,  as  well  as  Benedick  and 
Cymbeline. 

In  "  Rogues  and  Vagabonds  "  Miss  Mar- 
lowe had  a  graceful  success.  The  piece  was 
a  pretty  comedy,  well  worth  a  place  in  a 
repertory.  It  told  how  Charles  Hart,  a 
famous  actor  of  women's  characters,  and 
later  of  men's,  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
impersonated  a  woman,  and  taught  a  young 
lover  how  to  woo  and  win  the  woman  he 
himself  loved.  It  was,  of  course,  a  scene 
from  "As  You   Like   It"  in  new  shape,  but 


Jtclia  Marlowe  41 

none  the  less  clever  and  serviceable  for  this 
reason.  It  belonged  to  that  class  of  plays 
written  to  enable  actors  to  display  their  ver- 
satility. Sometimes  these  are  good  plavs : 
often  their  only  merit  consists  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  their  immediate  purpose.  One  of 
the  best  short  comedies  written  by  a  modern 
dramatist  is  a  piece  of  this  kind,  "  Comedy 
and  Tragedy,"  devised  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Gil- 
bert to  exploit  Miss  Mary  Anderson,  and 
worthy  of  the  abilities  of  a  Bernhardt. 
There  were  moments  in  *'  Rogues  and  Vag- 
abonds "  when  the  part  of  Charles  Hart 
went  beyond  the  scope  of  Miss  Marlowe; 
but  in  the  expression  of  whimsical  tender- 
ness, and  in  her  meeting  of  the  lovers  at  the 
close,  the  actress  achieved  something  like  a 
triumph. 

The  character  of  Beatrice  is  not  placed 
among  the  greatest  successes  of  Miss  Mar- 
lowe. That  she  made  it  charming  need 
hardly  be  said.  In  fict,  like  most  actresses 
who  undertake  the  role,  she  tried  to  soften 
the  sterner  side  ot  the  woman  and  to  em- 
phasize the  high  spirits,  the   humor,  and   the 


42  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

tenderness.  The  faults  of  the  impersonation 
were  summed  up,  when  it  was  first  seen  in 
Boston,  by  Mr.  H.  A.  Clapp,  the  well- 
known  dramatic  critic  and  Shaksperian  stu- 
dent. "  The  more  brilliant  speeches,"  he 
wrote  in  the  Daily  Advertiser^  "were  forced 
to  yield  a  humorous  flavor,  but  did  not 
make  their  true  vivid  appeal  to  the  under- 
standing and  the  imagination.  Very  often 
the  touch  was  light  and  youthful,  seldom 
was  there  any  illuminating  fancy.  *  But 
there  was  a  star  danced,  and  under  that  I 
was  born,'  amounted  to  nothing  more  than 
a  good-natured  pleasantry.  In  short,  the 
quality  of  intellectual  force,  the  fire,  definite- 
ness,  and  originality  of  Beatrice's  intellect 
were  inadequately  expressed  or  often  quite 
eclipsed.  The  same  criticism  fits  Miss  Mar- 
lowe's effort  on  the  emotional  side.  She 
was  frequently  sweet,  bewitching,  and  piquant 
in  her  scenes  with  Benedick ;  but  Beatrice's 
passionate  depth  of  nature  was  scarcely  indi- 
cated, the  great  representative  verses  begin- 
ning, 'What  fire  is  this  in  mine  ears?  Can 
this  be  true?'    from  which    Miss   Marlowe 


y  till  a  Marlowe  43 

last  night  omitted  the  first  six  words,  strik- 
ing her  key-note  with  a  weak  and  superficial 
tone.  In  the  opening  scenes  Miss  Marlowe 
undoubtedly  departed  far  from  Shakspere's 
idea  in  representing  Beatrice  as  frankly,  con- 
sciously, almost  gently,  coquetting  with  Ben- 
edick, even  to  the  extent  of  flirting  a  rosebud 
under  his  nose  to  attract  his  attention.  But 
it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  innovations 
were  deliberate  and  a  part  of  the  general 
lightness  of  the  actress's  scheme." 

The  fault  that  Mr.  Clapp  found  with  the 
Beatrice  of  Miss  Marlowe,  its  lack  of  depth, 
touched  upon  her  greatest  weakness  at  this 
time.  She  apparently  could  not  develop 
beyond  the  expression  ot  a  delicate  and 
poetic  tenderness  ;  but  to  be  able  to  realize 
this  quality  was  in  itself  a  rare  gitt,  and  it 
eminently  served  in  the  impersonation  of 
Imogen,  a  part  too  much  neglected  among 
even  the  most  ambitious  of  modern  actresses. 
In  recent  years  Miss  Margaret  Mather  de- 
graded it,  but  Madame  Modjeska  brought 
out  all  its  poetrv.  Miss  Marlowe  could  not 
bring  to  the  part  the  sureness  of  method  and 


44  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

the  variety  with  which  the  more  experienced 
actresses  had  played  it,  but  her  Imogen  must 
be  set  down  as  one  of  her  most  satisfying 
Shaksperian  impersonations.  A  writer  in 
the  Boston  Transcript^  a  paper  conspicuous 
for  the  incisiveness  of  its  dramatic  criticisms, 
wrote  on  the  occasion  of  Miss  Marlowe's 
first  appearance  in  Boston  in  "  Cymbeline  "  : 
"  Miss  Marlowe's  Imogen  may  be  set  down 
without  hesitation  as  her  finest  effort  so  far. 
Considering  the  wondrous  completeness  and 
many-sidedness  of  the  character,  and  the 
consequent  extreme  difficulty  of  the  part, 
this  should  be  a  matter  of  no  little  satisfac- 
tion to  her  friends  and  admirers,  to  those 
who  build  upon  her  past  achievements  hopes 
of  even  better  things  in  the  future.  Upon 
the  whole.  Miss  Marlowe's  talent  has  shown 
from  the  beginning  this  in  common  with 
Henry  Irving's, —  that  it  is  predominantly  a 
talent  for  dramatic  delineation.  She  has 
conspicuously  the  power,  by  no  means  com- 
mon on  the  stage,  of  seeming  for  that  time 
of  being  absolutely  at  one  with  the  character 
she  impersonates.     Her  specifically  histrionic 


Letitia  in  ••  The  Belle's  Stratagem  " 


Copyright,  lSg4,  hy  B.J.  Falk,  X.Y 

As  Chatterton 


Julia  Marlowe  45 

skill  may  at  times  fall  short  of  showing  the 
character  in  a  very  strong  light,  but  the  illu- 
sion she  produces  of  really  being  the  char- 
acter she  assumes  to  be  is  none  the  less 
complete  and  constant." 

At  the  opening  of  the  season  of  1892-93, 
Miss  Marlowe  had  an  exceptionally  large 
repertory.  Thus  far,  however,  her  appear- 
ances had  been  confined  chiefly  to  the  East- 
ern and  Middle  States.  Her  manager 
decided  to  plan  a  tour  for  the  season  that 
should  take  her  as  far  west  as  the  Pacific 
coast.  So  the  early  winter  found  her  in  Cal- 
ifornia, from  which  she  travelled  as  far  east 
as  Boston.  The  only  new  part  which  she 
assumed  this  season  was  Constance  in 
"  The  Love  Chase,"  the  old  comedy  by 
Sheridan  Knowles,  now  seldom  revived.  It 
was  well  worth  reviving,  however ;  and  it 
gave  Miss  Marlowe  her  first  training  in  old 
comedy,  a  most  valuable  school  of  art, 
and  it  also  offered  her  a  part  peculiarly 
suitable  to  her  youth  and  to  her  simple 
methods.  In  this  performance  she  had  the 
co-operation  of  Mrs.  John   Drew,  specially 


46  Sock  &  Buskhi  Biographies 

engaged  to  play  the  "  Widow  Green."  Miss 
Marlowe  did  not  keep  "  The  Love  Chase  " 
long  in  her  repertory  ;  though,  in  the  fol- 
lowing season,  she  revived  it  with  Miss 
Rose  Eytinge  as  "  the  Widow,"  and  she 
has  since  occasionally  repeated  it. 


V. 

DURING  the  season  of  1893-94  Miss 
Marlowe  appeared  in  two  new  parts, — 
Letitia  Hardy  in  "  The  Belle's  Stratagem," 
rearranged  for  her  by  Mr.  Edward  Fales 
Coward,  and  as  Chatterton  in  a  new  piece 
of  that  name  written  for  her  by  Mr.  Ernest 
Lacy,  a  young  American.  Mr.  Taber,  after 
two  consecutive  seasons  as  leading  juvenile 
of  the  company,  again  retired  and  undertook 
other  engagements ;  and  the  position  was 
assumed  by   Mr.   Henry  Jewett. 

Admirers  of  Ellen  Terry  who  have  seen 
the  actress  as  Letitia  Hardy  will  remem- 
ber how  Miss  Terry  infused  life  into  Mrs. 
Cowley's  eighteenth-century  comedy.  Miss 
Marlowe  could  not,  of  course,  be  expected 
to  lend  it  the  authority  and  the  grace  of  the 
most  brilliant  comedy  actress  of  her  time. 
But  she  justified  the  revival  by  the  charm, 
the  delicacy,  and  the  vivacity  with  which  she 
played  the  chief  character  and  by  the  quaint 
pictures  she  made  in  the  dress  of  the  period. 
She  did  not  keep  the  piece  in  her  repertory, 

47 


48  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

perhaps  because  she  found  that  her  audiences 
were  not  sufficiently  responsive  to  the  anti- 
quated situations  and  jests. 

More  important  was  the  production  of 
"  Chatterton."  It  took  courage  on  the  part 
of  Miss  Marlowe  to  present  a  poetic  drama. 
As  all  students  of  the  American  theatre 
know,  most  actors  and  managers  are  afraid 
of  blank  verse.  They  think  that  audiences 
dislike  it.  This  prejudice  explains  why,  in 
the  first  place,  our  own  poets  so  rarely 
undertake  to  write  in  dramatic  form,  and 
why  those  who  do  are  forced  to  present  their 
plays  almost  wholly  through  the  medium  of 
book  publication.  Mr.  Lacy  was  fortunate 
in  choosing  a  subject  that  made  a  strong 
appeal  to  Miss  Marlowe.  The  mere  men- 
tion of  Chatterton's  name  arouses  sympathy. 
Early  in  the  century  Alfred  de  Vigny  had 
made  him  the  subject  of  one  of  his  dramas. 
Reference  is  made  to  this  work  by  Emile 
Zola  in  "  Naturalism  in  the  Theatre."  It 
is  interesting,  apart  from  its  connection  with 
the  subject,  as  showing  Zola  in  the  role  of 
dramatic  critic  and  humorist.     "  My  deepest 


yulia  Marlowe  49 

interest,"  he  says,  "  indeed,  mv  solely  great 
interest,  during  the  evening  was  the  famous 
staircase.  And  I  am  convinced  that  the 
leading  actor  in  the  drama  is  this  staircase. 
Mark  how  it  succeeds.  In  the  first  act, 
when  Chatterton  appears  at  the  top  and 
slowly  descends,  his  entrance  is  made  much 
more  effective  than  it  would  have  been,  had 
he  simply  come  through  a  door  on  to  the 
scene.  In  the  second  act,  when  the  children 
of  Kitty  Bell  are  sent  to  carry  some  fruit  to 
the  poet,  it  is  delightful  to  see  the  little  legs 
of  those  adorable  children  hoist  them  up 
each  stair:  again  it  is  the  staircase.  Finally, 
in  the  last  act,  the  role  of  the  staircase  be- 
comes altogether  clear.  It  is  at  the  foot  of 
the  stairs  that  the  mutual  confession  of  love 
made  by  Chatterton  and  Kitty  Bell  takes 
place,  and  it  is  over  the  banisters  that  they 
exchange  a  kiss.  The  agony  of  the  poisoned 
Chatterton  is  rendered  the  more  horrible  to 
see  as  he  climbs  the  stairs,  dragging  himself 
up.  Finally,  Kitty  mounts  slowly  on  her 
hands  and  knees,  opens  the  door  of  the  poet's 
chamber,  sees   him   dead,  falls  backward,  and 


50  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

slides  down  the  whole  length  of  the  ban- 
isters, to  turn  over  and  fall  against  the 
proscenium  at  the  bottom.  The  staircase, — 
always  the  staircase.  Suppose  for  an  instant 
that  the  staircase  were  not  there.  Imagine 
a  flat  scene,  and  ask  yourself  what  the 
efi^ect  would  be.  It  would  be  diminished  to 
nothing,  and  the  play  lose  the  little  vitality 
that  remains  to  it.  Fancy  that  Kitty  Bell 
opened  a  door  at  the  back  of  the  stage,  and 
recoiled.  That  would  be  meagre.  Why, 
then,  is  not  this  accessory,  the  staircase, 
raised  to  the  role  of  principal  character  ?  " 
A  few  years  ago  Mr.  Wilson  Barrett  won 
considerable  success  in  England  and  in  this 
country  in  a  short  play  by  Henry  Arthur 
Jones  and  H.  Herman,  founded  on  the 
story  of  Chatterton's  career.  Without  being 
in  any  way  remarkable,  it  contained  some 
extremely  effective  situations,  which  Mr. 
Barrett  played  with  his  characteristically 
melodramatic  vigor.  Mr.  Lacv's  work, 
like  the  version  used  by  Mr.  Barrett,  con- 
cerned itself  with  the  tragic  close  of  the  young 
poet's  life.  The  Barrett  version  had  intro- 
duced what  actors  call  a  strong  "  heart-inter- 


/'^^H 

^^^^^^u^^^^^Lv^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H 

•^  ^  «J 

^^^^< 

L    ^ 

rTirfi^HW 

Lad\   Teazle  in  ••  The  School  tor  Scandal 


Julia  Marlowe  51 

est"  in  the  love  ot  Chatterton  for  a  young 
woman  whom  he  believed  to  be  indifferent 
to  him.  After  taking  poison  in  despair  at 
his  poverty  and  the  hopelessness  of  his  fate, 
he  finds  a  letter  which  she  has  left  for  him 
at  his  lodgings,  which  makes  life  dear  to  him 
again.  So  the  pathos  of  his  death  is  intensi- 
fied. Mr.  Lacy  used  in  his  work  only  four 
characters  :  the  poet  himself,  the  landlady  of 
the  lodgings,  and  a  London  tradesman,  for 
whom  Chatterton,  according  to  his  habit, 
had  provided  a  fictitious  pedigree,  and  the 
tradesman's  daughter.  On  discovering  the 
cheat,  the  tradesman  had  called  with  the  girl 
to  remonstrate.  But  Chatterton  succeeds  in 
softening  his  wrath,  and  so  works  on  the 
sympathies  of  the  daughter  that  she  leaves 
a  purse  for  him.  This  charity  he  scorns, 
and  ends  his  miseries  with  poison.  As  a 
drama,  Mr.  Lacy's  piece  suffered  from  inad- 
equate construction.  It  seemed  more  like  a 
biographical  sketch  in  dramatic  form,  with 
very  little  tragical  connection  between  the 
scenes.  In  the  title  part,  however.  Miss 
Marlowe  had  a  genuine  success,  notably  in 
depicting  the  mute  jxithos  of  the  character. 


VI. 

EARLY  in  the  spring  of  1894  Miss 
Marlowe  became  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Robert  Taber.  In  every  respect  the  mar- 
riage seemed  to  be  ideal.  Both  were 
young,  both  were  devoted  to  their  work, 
both  were  ambitious.  Most  marriages  be- 
tween actors  carry  with  them  the  promise  of 
unhappiness  ;  husband  and  wife,  unless  they 
belong  to  stock  companies,  are  almost  inevi- 
tably separated,  sometimes  for  months  at  a 
time.  Home  life  is  impossible,  save  for 
comparatively  brief  periods  each  year.  In 
the  case  of  the  Tabers,  however,  the  condi- 
tions, it  was  thought,  would  be  different. 
They  would  act  together,  as  they  had  done 
before;  and  each  would  stimulate  the  ambi- 
tion of  the  other.  The  stage  had  already 
given  examples  of  happy  marriages  among 
successful  co-stars,  the  most  conspicuous 
being,  perhaps,  the  case  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
W.  H.  Kendal.  It  was  known,  of  course, 
that  many  managers  believed  the  public  did 
not  care  to  see  husband  and  wife  act  to- 
5* 


Julia  Marlowe  53 

gether,  but  the  Tabers  hoped  to  be  judged 
solely  on  their  artistic  merits. 

Already  Mr.  Taber  had  achieved  a  high 
place  on  the  American  stage.  He  had  the 
advantage  of  being  well  born  and  well  edu- 
cated. So  he  brought  to  the  theatre  intelli- 
gence and  good  manners, —  qualities  not  so 
common  among  plavers  that  they  may  be 
taken  for  granted.  His  father  was  a  cotton- 
merchant  of  New  York ;  and  two  of  his 
brothers  had  begun  careers  which  have  since 
given  them  honorable  places  in  life,  one  as 
an  artist  and  the  other  as  professor  of  mathe- 
matics in  Clark  University.  Mr.  Taber 
was  trained  for  the  stage  at  the  dramatic 
school  of  Mr.  Franklin  Sargent,  which  has 
introduced  many  good  actors.  His  first 
professional  work  was  done  as  a  subordinate 
member  of  Madame  Modjeska's  company, 
in  which  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  enjoy 
the  advantages  of  playing  small  Shaksperian 
parts  and  of  being  associated  with  a  great 
artist.  Even  then  he  was  noticed  for  his 
fine  physique,  his  rather  handsome  face,  and 
for   his   intelligent    readings   and   clear  voice 


54         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

and  diction.  His  engagement  as  leading 
juvenile  with  Miss  Marlowe  gave  him  ex- 
ceptional chances.  He  had  a  variety  of 
parts,  including  Romeo,  Claude  Melnotte, 
Orlando,  Orsino,  Ingomar,  and  Clifford  in 
"The  Hunchback."  His  advance  was,  per- 
haps, a  little  too  rapid  for  his  abilities ;  but 
he  did  his  work  with  a  crude  vigor, —  that 
is,  he  overdid  it.  Unlike  Miss  Marlowe, 
whose  development  has  been  to  reach  a  part 
slowly  by  underplaying  it,  Mr.  Taber  at- 
tacked his  new  roles  with  violence.  He  suf- 
fered, too,  from  self-consciousness,  which, 
besides  being  responsible  for  other  defects, 
made  it  almost  impossible  for  him  to  make 
a  graceful  exit.  After  leaving  Miss  Mar- 
lowe's company,  he  had  a  valuable  experience 
in  modern  parts  with  the  companies  of 
Richard  Mansfield  and  Rose  Coghlan,  as 
well  as  with  a  company  organized  to  play 
the  once  popular  melodrama  "  Roger  La 
Honte,"  in  which  he  had  a  popular  success 
as  the  hero.  When  Mr.  Taber  returned  to 
Miss  Marlowe,  he  showed  an  unusual  and  a 
very  praiseworthy  ambition   to  broaden  his 


ytilia  Marlowe  55 

work  by  attempting  character  parts,  usually 
given  to  older  men.  Instead  of  the  roman- 
tic Orsino  in  "  Twelfth  Night,"  for  example, 
he  played  Malvolio.  He  used  to  say  that 
he  preferred  to  appear  in  roles  in  which  he 
could  sink  his  identity.  The  romantic 
actor  nearly  always  thrusts  forward  his  own 
personality,  and  the  character  actor  usually 
strives  to  depict  a  personality  wholly  differ- 
ent from  his  own.  Mr.  Taber  has  proved 
the  wisdom  of  his  ambition  by  doing  his 
best  work  in  those  parts  where  he  has  relied 
least  on  his  personal  appearance  and  most  on 
the  actor's  power  of  impersonation.  At  the 
time  of  his  marriage  he  was  able  to  look 
back  on  about  ten  years  of  arduous  and 
varied  work,  which  offered  justification  for 
his  ambition  to  take  his  place  on  equal 
terms  with  an  actress  who  during  the  same 
period,  had  been  establishing  herself  as  one 
of  the  most  successful  on  the  American  stage. 
During  the  season  after  her  marriage 
Miss  Marlowe  was  billed  as  Julia  Marlowe- 
Taber.  Retaining  several  of  the  pieces  with 
which   she   had    become  identified,  she  matie 


56         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

in  addition  two  interesting  productions: 
"  The  School  for  Scandal  "  and  a  condensed 
version  of  Browning's  "  Colombe's  Birth- 
day." As  Lady  Teazle,  she  was  subjected 
to  comparison  with  Miss  Ada  Rehan,  who 
was  then  winning  considerable  success  in  the 
character,  as  well  as  with  actresses  of  a  past 
generation,  who  had  been  as  members  of  the 
old  stock  .companies  trained  in  the  traditions 
of  old  comedy.  The  performance  lacked 
the  brilliancy  of  Miss  Rehan's,  but  it  had  a 
simplicity  and  a  directness  that  Miss  Rehan's 
work  seldom  displays.  Miss  Marlowe's  pro- 
duction was,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
Sheridan  up  to  date.  Perhaps  it  would  be 
even  truer  to  say,  in  the  words  applied  by  the 
great  comedian,  William  Warren,  so  long  a 
favorite  at  the  Boston  Museum,  to  Mr.  Jo- 
seph Jefferson's  production  of  "  The  Rivals," 
that  it  was  "  Sheridan  twenty  miles  away." 
It  appears  impossible  at  this  time  to  bring 
actors  together  who  can  give  the  flavor  of  old 
comedy.  Miss  Marlowe  was  able  to  present 
only  a  one-sided  picture  of  Lady  Teazle, 
making    the    character    light    and    gay    and 


i 

1'rim.c  Ilcnrv   in  '•  Hcin\    1  \ 


Copyrii;ht,  Ibqii,  by  H.J.  /-a/'k.  .\  .  J 

Lydia  Languish  in  "  The  Rivals  " 


yulia  Marlowe  57 

essentially  noble-minded.  Much,  of  course, 
may  be  said  in  favor  of  this  interpretation; 
but  it  leaves  out  a  few  important  and  inter- 
esting qualities.  Lady  Teazle  cannot  be 
ranked  among  Miss  Marlowe's  successes. 
The  character  was  too  subtle  and  too  in- 
volved to  be  within  the  range  of  the  ac- 
tress at  the  time  she  undertook  it. 

By  producing  "  Colombe's  Birthday," 
Miss  Marlowe  showed  courage,  initiative, 
and  fine  poetic  appreciation.  A  new  ver- 
sion had  been  prepared  for  her  by  Rose 
Eytinge  and  S.  Ada  Fisher,  who  had  skil- 
fiilly  stripped  the  poem  of  Browning's  philo- 
sophical passages,  and  arranged  in  coherent 
form  its  dramatic  situations.  Miss  Marlowe 
gave  this  piece  only  a  comparatively  few  times, 
and  not  once  in  New  York.  She  probably 
thought  that  New  York  would  have  little 
patience  with  Browning.  Indeed,  Browning 
as  a  writer  for  the  stage  has  never  received 
much  appreciation.  Lawrence  Barrett,  to 
be  sure,  had  some  success  in  his  version  of 
"A  Blot  in  the  Scutcheon";  but  he  did 
not  keep   the  piece    long  in    his    repertory. 


58  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

Here  and  there,  too,  in  the  history  of  our 
stage  in  the  past  fifty  years,  attempts  have 
been  made  to  give  plays  by  Browning, 
chiefly,  however,  by  cultivated  amateurs. 
Mr.  H.  A.  Clapp,  in  his  notice  of  Miss 
Marlowe's  production,  recorded  in  the  Bos- 
ton Daily  Advertiser  that  "the  single  pre- 
vious public  representation  of  the  work  in 
Boston  took  place  at  the  Howard  Athe- 
naeum on  the  1 6th  of  February,  1854,  when 
Mrs.  Jean  Davenport,  afterward  Mrs.  Lang- 
don,  appeared  as  Colombe."  The  revival 
by  Miss  Marlowe  aroused  great  interest  in 
Boston  and  in  a  few  other  cities,  attracting 
many  lovers  of  dramatic  literature  who  are 
rarely  seen  in  the  theatre.  As  Colombe, 
Miss  Marlowe  won  a  success  of  esteem.  It 
can  hardly  be  called  more  than  that. 
"  Mrs.  Taber's  impersonation  of  Colombe," 
said  Mr.  Clapp,  in  an  exhaustive  review, 
"was  mixed  of  merit  and  demerit.  It  did 
not  lack  grace  and  ease.  On  the  contrary, 
it  was  strikingly  rich  in  these  qualities,  even 
in  difficult  situations.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  was  deficient  in  weight,  force,  and  fire." 


VII. 

DURING  the  following  season  (i  895-96) 
Miss  Marlowe  and  Mr  Taber  carried 
out  two  ambitious  plans  that  they  had  long 
had  in  mind.  This  was  to  make  an  elabo- 
rate production  of  the  first  part  of  Shak- 
spere's  play  of  "  Henry  IV,"  and  a  pains- 
taking and  accurate  production  of  "She 
Stoops  to  Conquer." 

Not  long  before,  Sir  Henry  Irving  had 
suggested  to  Madame  Sarah  Bernhardt  that 
she  produce  the  Shaksperian  piece,  playing 
herself  the  part  of  Prince  Hal.  It  may  have 
been  this  suggestion  that  gave  the  idea  of 
the  production  to  the  Tabers.  For  many 
years  the  drama  had  not  been  given  in 
America.  So  to  the  younger  generation  it 
would  have  the  interest  of  novelty  ;  to  older 
play-goers  it  would  recall  memories  of  the 
late  James  K.  Hackett,  father  of  the  present 
stage  favorite  of  that  name.  The  holidays  of 
1895  ^^^  Tabers  passed  at  the  summer  home 
of  Mr.  Taber  at  Stowe,  Vermont.  Here 
they  both  worked  hard  preparing  for  the 
59 


6o         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

new  production.  It  would  mark  their  first 
experience  in  their  own  stage  management, 
and  they  were  resolved  that  the  task  should 
be  artistically  and  thoroughly  accomplished. 
Mr.  Taber  engaged  Mr.  E.  Hamilton  Bell, 
the  well-known  artist  and  at  one  time  an 
actor,  to  make  plans  for  the  scenery,  follow- 
ing an  example  set  by  Sir  Henry  Irving  and 
other  stage  managers  of  England,  and  very 
generally  ignored  here,  of  soliciting  the  co- 
operation of  such  men  as  Alma  Tadema  and 
Burne-Jones  for  their  more  elaborate  pro- 
ductions. Mr.  Taber  was  delighted  with 
Mr.  Bell's  plans,  and  sent  them  to  scene- 
painters  in  New  York  who  were  to  carry 
them  out.  A  few  weeks  later,  on  going  to 
the  city  to  see  the  work,  he  was  appalled  by 
the  way  the  color  schemes  had  been  vulgar- 
ized. Then  it  was  that  he  learned  the  lesson 
all  actor  managers  must  learn, —  that  their 
plans  must  be  carried  out  under  their  per- 
sonal direction.  Mr.  Taber  gave  new  in- 
structions to  the  painter,  the  work  was 
begun  again,  and  successfully  completed. 
Late  in  August    the  company  assembled 


yulia  Marlowe  6 1 

in  Milwaukee  for  rehearsals.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Taber  had  prepared  a  stage  version  of  the 
piece  of  their  own,  after  studying  those  made 
by  Mr.  Hackett  and  by  Mrs.  Inchbold. 
When  their  arrangement  had  been  finished, 
they  discovered  that  it  practically  coincided 
with  the  usual  acted  version, —  a  fact  which 
strengthened  Mrs.  Taber's  faith  in  stage 
tradition.  In  spite  of  the  hot  weather  the 
rehearsals  were  vigorously  conducted  for 
two  weeks.  Most  of  the  stage  business 
had  to  be  devised,  for  in  that  regard  the 
prompt-book  offered  little  help.  Not  only 
had  the  actors  to  be  drilled  in  their  parts, 
but  a  large  force  of  supers  in  armor  had  to 
be  carefully  trained  for  the  battle  scene, —  a 
wearisome  task  in  itself.  Moreover,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Taber  had  to  learn  to  wear  armor, 
in  which  they  had  never  before  appeared  on 
the  stage.  To  accustom  themselves  to  it, 
they  wore  it  in  their  apartments  for  several 
hours  each  day,  even  taking  their  meals  in 
it.  Even  at  the  dress  rehearsal  many  diffi- 
culties remained  unsolved.  For  example,  it 
was   found    that,  if  Sir  John    Falstaff  were 


62  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

allowed  to  appear  in  armor,  he  could  not  be 
lifted  after  he  fell.  Nevertheless,  the  pro- 
duction on  the  following  evening  was  warmly 
commended  by  the  local  critics. 

It  was  not  surprising,  however,  that  aston- 
ishment should  have  been  expressed  at  the 
decision  of  the  Tabers  to  produce  "  Henr}'' 
IV."  The  explanation  is  probably  to  be 
found  in  the  generosity  of  Miss  Marlowe, 
who  had  at  heart  the  interests  of  her  husband 
rather  than  her  own.  There  was  really  no 
part  in  the  drama  suitable  for  her.  Lady 
Percy  offered  few  opportunities,  none,  at  any 
rate,  worthy  of  a  ''star."  Consequently, 
Miss  Marlowe  chose  the  character  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales.  Those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  work  of  Mr.  Taber  need  not  be 
told  that  Hotspur  was  eminently  suited  to 
his  build  and  his  declamatory  style.  It 
would  seem  that  under  the  circumstances 
the  honors  must  have  fallen  to  Mr.  Taber. 
But  to  the  performance  of  Falstaff  had  been 
assigned  one  of  the  best  Shaksperian  actors, 
certainly  the  most  comic  actor  of  Shak- 
spere  in    his    time,   Mr.  William   F.   Owen. 


A.s  Rtjiiiol.i 


Marv  in  ■•  For  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie 


yulia  Marlowe  63 

If  for  nothing  else,  the  production  would 
have  been  remarkable  for  Mr.  Owen's  unctu- 
ous characterization  of  the  fat  old  knight. 
The  humor  of  P'alstaff  has  now  almost 
wholly  evaporated.  Those  who  can  laugh 
at  his  speeches  deserve  to  be  credited  less 
for  their  appreciation  of  wit  and  fun  than 
for  their  reverence  for  Shakspere.  To  give 
life  and  merriment  to  the  character,  an  actor 
must  have  a  very  unusual  fund  of  humor  in 
himself.  Mr.  Owen  succeeded  where  manv 
another  actor  of  ability  would  have  com- 
pletely failed.  His  impersonation  was  elabo- 
rately grotesque  and  faithfully  Shaksperian. 
It  must  rank  as  the  best  work  of  its  kind 
seen  on  our  stage  in  many  a  year. 

Of  Miss  Marlowe's  "  Prince  Hal,"  it  is 
not  altogether  pleasant  to  speak.  Perhaps 
the  kindest  thing  to  be  said  about  it  is  that 
it  was  a  success  of  curiosity.  The  public 
was  interested  in  seeing  one  of  the  most  del- 
icately feminine  of  modern  actresses  mas- 
querading in  the  part  of  the  young  roysterer, 
trying  to  assume  an  air  of  bravado  in  utter- 
ing his  coarse  jests,  and  strutting  across  the 


64         Sock  &  Buskhi  Biographies 

stage  encased  in  mail.  Miss  Marlowe  her- 
self probably  does  not  look  back  on  those 
performances  with  much  satisfaction.  She 
soon  began  to  dislike  the  part,  and  it  is  said 
that  she  used  to  cry  every  time  she  had  to 
play  it.  She  could  not,  of  course,  create 
the  least  illusion ;  and,  though  she  read 
the  speeches  intelligently,  her  performance 
seemed  like  a  bit  out  of  comic  opera.  Mr. 
Taber's  performance  of  Hotspur  was,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  vigorous  and 
heroic,  both  in  bearing  and  in  speech.  It 
was  difficult  for  him,  at  the  close  of  the 
drama,  to  accept  his  defeat  by  Prince  Hal 
without  subjecting  himself  and  the  Prince  to 
ridicule ;  but  our  audiences  are  the  politest 
audiences  in  the  world.  In  this  connection 
the  mission  of  the  work  that  Miss  Marlowe 
has  expressed  in  print  is  worth  quoting : 
"  Shakspere  wrote  the  piece  knowing  that 
Prince  Hal  was  a  national  favorite,  and  must 
be  made  heroic ;  and  I  suppose  that  this  ex- 
plains his  victory  over  Hotspur  at  the  end. 
No  doubt  Shakspere  was  politic,  as  we  all 
are    in    some    degree ;  and   it  seems    to  me 


Julia  Marlowe  65 

that  he  is  rather  at  war  with  his  conscience 
all  the  way  through,  wondering  how  he  can 
make  a  sufficient  hero  out  of  the  material 
he  has  to  deal  with."  Then  Miss  Marlowe 
added,  with  perhaps  a  touch  of  humor  that 
her  interviewer  missed,  "  Besides,  I  am 
very  sure  that,  when  Shakspere  wrote 
*  King  Henry  IV,'  he  did  not  think  of 
pleasing  the  taste  of  American  audiences." 

It  was  impossible,  of  course,  for  an  actress 
of  Miss  Marlowe's  temperament  not  to  win 
favor  as  Lady  Hardcastle  in  Goldsmith's 
comedy.  It  was  equally  impossible  for  this 
very  modern  young  player,  in  spite  of  her 
training  in  Shakspere,  to  give  vitality  to 
the  old  comedy.  She  made  Lady  Hard- 
castle a  charming  young  girl  of  the  late 
nineteenth  century,  whose  frolicking  was  the 
most  graceful  make-believe.  Perhaps  the 
best  comment  on  the  production  was  made 
by  Mr.  William  Winter  in  the  New  York 
Tribune.  Referring  to  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Taber,  Mr.  Winter  remarked:  "  Neither  of 
these  actors  —  although  both  can  be  playful 
and    both   are  apt   enough    at    pleasantry  — 


66         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

displayed  the  peculiar  talent  that  is  essential 
for  comedy.  Goldsmith's  dialogue,  at  its 
best,  is  rather  formal,  so  that  even  when 
Lester  Wallack  and  John  Gilbert  acted  in 
this  old  play,  their  ingenuity  was  taxed  to 
make  its  language  seem  fluent  and  flexible. 
Mr.  Taber's  crude  delivery  left  it  in  its 
original  condition  of  serried  composure. 
Of  all  the  old  dramatists,  Vanbrugh  alone 
used  language  that  it  is  deliciously  easy  to 
speak ;  but  the  old  actors  had  a  way  of  mak- 
ing all  language  sound  as  if  it  were  flowing 
with  spontaneous  ease.  The  new  actors 
seem  not  to  have  inherited  that  art.  Mrs. 
Taber  was,  of  course,  agreeable  as  Miss 
Hardcastle.  She  could  not  easily  be  other- 
wise. The  eighteenth-century  rural  Eng- 
lish style,  the  distinctive  quality  which 
appertains  to  the  characters  exactly  as  a 
peculiar  fragrance  does  to  a  special  kind  of 
rose,  was  not  perceptible ;  neither  were  the 
buoyancy,  the  distinction,  the  sweep  and 
dash,  and  the  crisp  and  finely  finished  execu- 
tive method,  which  are  the  Indispensable 
characteristics     of     comedy     acting.        Mrs. 


''■^^^^p^'illlk^^^                           ^^^ 

^^^H 
I 

♦M*4j,, 

'^ 

fll  13/  M  ^1 

A>  the  Countess  Valeska 


yulia  Marloivc  67 

Taber  seemed  to  make  no  effort  of  the 
imagination  to  assume  a  foreign  identity,  in 
a  distant  past  time,  and  amid  other  environ- 
ments than  those  of  the  present.  Her  man- 
ner is  modern,  and  her  vein  is  sentiment 
rather  than  humor.  The  personal  sincerity 
and  sweetness,  and  the  kindly  good  humor 
of  the  embodiment,  will  be  remembered  as 
its  best  attributes." 


VIII. 

THE  season  of  i  895-96  is  further  mem- 
orable in  the  history  of  JuHa  Marlowe 
as  it  marks  her  establishment  as  a  New  York 
favorite.  After  her  first  New  York  appear- 
ances during  her  earlier  seasons,  Miss  Mar- 
lowe avoided  the  city  for  several  years.  It 
is  true  that  she  continued  to  play  brief  en- 
gagements at  the  Harlem  Opera  House; 
but,  considered  from  the  rather  narrow  point 
of  view  of  the  frequenter  of  the  Broadway 
theatres,  the  Harlem  Opera  House  does  not 
really  belong  to  New  York.  There  are 
many  actors,  popular  throughout  the  United 
States,  who  seldom  or  never  venture  to  ap- 
pear before  Metropolitan  audiences.  One 
of  the  most  artistic  as  well  as  one  of  the 
most  successful  of  all  our  stars  is  a  notable 
example,  Mr.  Sol  Smith  Russell.  Occa- 
sionally Mr.  Russell  gathers  courage  to 
make  a  new  attempt  to  win  the  favor  of 
New  York,  but  thus  far  he  has  received  little 
encouragement.  It  may  be  that  his  art, 
which  expresses  itself  in  quiet,  unemotional 

68 


Julia  Marlowe  69 

plays,  is  too  fine  to  be  enjoyed  by  theatre- 
goers used  to  the  highly  spiced  dramas  com- 
ing from  London  and  Paris  and  to  the  over- 
wrought acting  that  these  encourage.  A 
similar  explanation  might  have  been  offered 
in  the  case  of  Miss  Marlowe.  During  her 
engagement  at  Wallack's  Theatre,  then 
Palmer's,  she  presented  an  extensive  reper- 
tory, including  "  Romeo  and  Juliet,"  "  She 
Stoops  to  Conquer,"  "  Henrv  IV,"  and  "  As 
You  Like  It."  The  papers  gave  her  con- 
siderable attention,  some  praise,  and  more 
or  less  severe  criticism.  The  audiences  did 
not  fill  the  play-house,  to  be  sure ;  but  they 
went  away  pleased.  Shrewd  observers  of 
the  theatre  saw  that  Miss  Marlowe  had  at 
last  made  a  place  for  herself  in  New  York. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  Mrs. 
James  Brown  Potter  was  demonstrating  how 
Juliet  ought  not  to  be  played ;  and  those 
who  saw  both  Juliets  cannot  have  failed  to 
admire  Miss  Marlowe's  all  the  more.  It 
was  during  this  engagement  that  Miss  Mar- 
lowe's Juliet  received  from  Mr.  W.  I). 
Howells    in    Harper  s    lVeckl\    this    triinitc, 


JO         Sock  &  BusJciti  Biographies 

taken  in  part  from  a  long  article,  which 
shows  how  remarkably  she  had  developed  in 
this  character  from  her  first  timid  and  inade- 
quate portrayal. :  — 

"  I  think  that  what  Mrs.  Taber  did  most 
beautifully  was  to  give  the  sense  of  Juliet's 
youth,  and  let  her  nature  open  from  child- 
hood to  womanhood  like  an  expanding  flower 
before  the  eye.  It  is  a  child  who  gives  her 
love  away  upon  the  balcony  :  it  is  a  woman 
who  doubts  of  the  potion  which  is  to  save 
her  to  her  love  from  the  marriage  she  dreads  ; 
and  every  moment  of  the  change,  the  growth, 
has  been  most  delicately  suggested,  most 
distinctly  noted,  in  Mrs.  Taber's  perform- 
ance. I  could  not  see  where  at  any  time 
she  failed,  where  her  art  fell  short  of  her 
ideal ;  and,  as  her  ideal  was  so  beautiful, 
I  do  not  know  that  I  could  say  more  than 
this  in  her  praise.  She  had  imagined  Juliet 
with  a  purity  in  which  there  was  no  capability 
of  consciousness,  of  the  low  selfishness  which 
makes  the  inferior  artist  wish  to  shine  at  the 
expense  of  the  poet's  creation.  She  was 
throughout  natural,  and  to  be  natural  in  the 


yulia  Marlozve  71 

ideal  is  all  that  art  can  do  or  criticism 
demand.  Mrs,  Taber  has  divined  this  with 
an  intelligence  from  which  alone  such  art 
as  hers  could  spring.  The  impulse,  the  ten- 
derness, the  trust,  the  doubt,  the  fear,  the 
courage  that  make  up  Shakspere's  Juliet  are 
all  delicately  expressed  in  Mrs.  Taber's 
Juliet,  and  above  everything  the  angelic 
gentleness,  which,  even  more  than  her  pas- 
sion, is  characteristic  of  Juliet,  is  accented 
with  most  sympathetic  perfection.  Her 
adorable  sincerity,  a  thousand  times  more 
charming  than  any  coquetry,  for  which  it 
has  not  an  instant's  patience,  seems  to  have 
imparted  itself  to  the  actress,  so  that  she 
cannot  play  false  to  Juliet  or  be  false  to 
herself  as  an  artist." 

At  the  close  of  their  regular  tour,  in  the 
spring  of  1896,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taber  played 
a  supplementary  season  in  the  production 
of  "The  Rivals,"  given  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Jefferson  with  a  "  star  cast."  This  cast  is, 
indeed,  so  remarkable  that  it  has  an  interest 
here:  — 


72  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

Sir  Anthony  Absolute     ....       William    H.   Crank. 

Captain  Absolute Robert  Taber. 

Falkland Joseph  Holland. 

Bob  Acres Joseph  Jefferson, 

Sir  Lucius  O' Trigger N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Fag E.  M.  Holland. 

David Francis  Wilson. 

Mrs.  Malaprop Mrs,  John  Drew. 

Lydia  Languish      .      .      .      Mrs.  Julia   Marlowe-Taber. 
Lucy        Miss  Fanny  Rice, 

A  performance  of  this  kind  is  perhaps  not 
to  be  considered  very  seriously.  It  was 
undertaken  less  with  an  eye  to  the  interests 
of  art  than  to  financial  profit.  From  the 
commercial  point  of  view  it  proved  to  be 
eminently  successful.  The  company  played 
brief  engagements  in  several  cities  before 
crowded  houses  at  considerably  advanced 
prices.  Artistically,  the  greatest  successes 
were  won,  first  of  course,  by  Mr.  Jefferson 
and  Mrs.  Drew,  whose  acting  in  the  old 
comedy  was,  however,  familiar  to  the  public, 
and  by  Mr.  Wilson,  who,  in  spite  of  an 
impossible  accent,  gave  an  uncommonly  fine 
characterization,  developed  with  great  origi- 
nality and  with  genuine  humor.      Mr.  Taber, 


Colincttc,  Art  I 


L'oliiictte,  Act  111 


yulia  Marlowe  y^f 

too,  received  enthusiastic  praise  for  his  de- 
notement of  young  Absolute's  demure  comic 
hypocrisy.  The  charm  of  Lydia  Languish 
was  everywhere  recognized,  but  it  was  sub- 
jected to  criticism  for  its  failure  to  interpret 
accurately  the  dramatist's  intention. 

During  the  following  summer  Miss  Mar- 
lowe and  Mr.  Taber  devoted  most  of  their 
working  hours  to  preparations  for  the  pro- 
duction of  a  stage  version  of  George  Kliot's 
"  Romola,"  made  by  Mr.  Elwyn  A.  Barron. 
For  many  years  Mr.  Barron  had  been  dis- 
tinguished as  the  leading  dramatic  critic  of 
the  daily  press  of  Chicago,  his  writing  having 
won  distinction  for  its  scholarly  accuracy,  its 
insight  and  fluency.  At  this  time  Mr. 
Barron  was  little  known  as  a  writer  of  plays. 
It  would  seem,  however,  as  if  his  experience 
had  given  him  an  excellent  preparation  for 
the  work.  Still,  as  every  one  knows,  it  is 
much  easier  to  point  out  the  defect  of  a  play 
than  to  write  a  good  play  one's  self  The 
critical  faculty  is  far  removed  from  the  ability 
to  create,  and  the  true  qualities  are  not  often 
found  highly  developed  in  the  same  writer. 


74  Sock  &  J3uskiu  Biographies 

The  case  is  somewhat  different  when  the 
critic's  task  is  to  take  the  material  of  another 
imagination  and  to  use  it  in  another  medium. 

"  Romola  "  contains  so  many  strong  dra- 
matic situations  that,  before  Mr.  Barron, 
others  had  been  tempted  to  the  task  of 
transferring  it  to  the  stage.  Mr.  Barron's 
version  had  literar}'^  quality,  it  was  pictur- 
esque, it  told  the  story  coherently  ;  but  as  a 
drama  it  failed.  It  gave  Miss  Marlowe 
very  few  chances  to  display  her  abilities ; 
but  in  the  part  of  Tito,  a  far  stronger 
part,  Mr.  Taber  had  a  great  success.  The 
piece  was  presented  for  a  few  months  only 
on  the  road.      New  York  never  saw  it. 

In  spite  of  its  failure  to  gain  popular  ap- 
proval, Mr.  Barron's  play  won  a  good  deal 
of  approval  from  intelligent  critics.  In  the 
outlines  of  its  construction  it  showed  con- 
siderable ingenuity.  Like  many  plays  written 
by  students  of  the  theatre,  it  was  better  in 
plan  than  in  execution.  Mr.  Barron  opened 
the  piece  in  a  public  square  in  Florence,  and 
in  the  first  act  succeeded  in  beginning  the 
story   of  Tito's  cajoling   of  Tessa,    and    in 


Julia  Marlowe  75 

dramatizing  Tito's  sale  of  the  jewels,  his 
meeting  with  Romola,  who  passed,  bearing 
a  bunch  of  lilies  in  her  hand  and  leading 
her  blind  father,  and,  finally,  his  reception 
of  the  news  that  Baldassare  still  lived.  The 
weakness  of  the  act  was  due  largely  to  the 
crowding  in  of  the  incidents.  The  second 
act,  which  passed  in  the  house  of  Romola, 
where  her  father  was  very  successfully  char- 
acterized, proved  less  interesting  from  the 
lack  of  variety  of  incident,  tliough  the  love 
and  the  betrothal  of  Romola  and  Tito  were 
very  delicately  handled.  The  third  act  \yas 
divided  into  two  scenes,  the  first  in  Tessa's 
cottage,  showing  the  meeting  between  Tessa 
and  Baldassare,  and  the  second  in  Romola's 
garden,  where  Tito's  perfidy  in  selling  the 
antiquities  of  the  old  scholar  was  betrayed. 
In  the  fourth  act  Tito  had  his  dramatic 
scene  with  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  and  was  pur- 
sued by  the  mob,  to  escape  from  which  he 
leaped  into  the  Arno,  only  to  fall  into  the 
clutches  of  Baldassare,  lying  in  wait  for  him. 
In  spite  of  his  principles,  Mr.  Barron  had 
not   been    able    to    resist    the    temptation    to 


76  Sock  &  Buskiii  Biographies 

introduce  a  bit  of  melodrama  here,  the 
curtain  rising  to  reveal  Tito  slowly  strangling 
to  death  in  the  grip  of  his  enemy.  This 
scene  naturally  closed  the  drama ;  but,  to 
wind  up  his  story,  Mr.  Barron  had  to  resort 
to  the  expedient  of  an  epilogue,  which  pre- 
sented Romola  in  the  gray  garb  of  a  nun, 
adopting  the  child  of  Tessa  and  Tito,  and 
receiving  consolation  from  Savonarola. 

The  production  of  "  Romola  "  was  warmly 
recommended  for  its  fidelity  to  historical  de- 
tail and  for  its  beauty.  The  scene  in  the 
garden  in  the  second  act  had  the  quality  of 
an  old  Florentine  picture.  But  neither 
scenery   nor  good  acting  can  save  a  play. 

Greater  success  attended  the  next  produc- 
tion of  Miss  Marlowe  and  Mr.  Taber  made 
later  in  the  season.  This  was  a  version  of 
Francois  Coppee's  powerful  drama,  "  Les 
Jacobites,"  prepared  by  Mr.  J.  I.  C.  Clarke, 
under  the  title  of"  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie." 
The  piece  ran  for  several  months  when  first 
given  at  the  Odeon  in  Paris.  There  it  had 
a  remarkable  cast,  including  Madame  Weber, 
now  known  as  Madame  Segond-Weber,  and 


Jtilia  Marlowe  yy 

remembered  in  this  country  for  her  splendid 
impersonations  in  the  support  of  Mounet- 
Sully  during  the  tragedian's  brief  tour  here ; 
Paul  Mounet,  one  of  the  strongest  of  the 
actors  who  had  joined  the  Fran9ais  in 
many  years;  and  that  robust  and  eminently 
satisfactory  player,  Albert  Lambert,  father, 
by  the  way,  of  the  younger  Lambert,  of  the 
Fran9ais,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  inter- 
preters of  romantic  parts  now  living.  By 
her  acting  in  this  piece,  Madame  Weber 
practically  established  herself  in  Paris, —  a 
fact  which  speaks  well  for  the  possibilities  in 
the  chief  woman's  character.  Indeed,  the 
character  of  the  gentle  Scotch  girl,  Mary, 
who  devoted  herself  to  the  cause  of  the  light- 
minded  prince,  perfectly  fitted  Miss  Mar- 
lowe ;  and  in  the  part  of  Mary's  old  father, 
the  very  embodiment  of  Scotch  loyalty  and 
self-sacrifice,  Mr.  Taber  succeeded  in  sink- 
ing his  mannerisms,  and  played  with  most 
effective  sincerity  and  power.  The  work 
was  too  serious  to  please  the  great  public, 
though  it  attracted  large  audiences  for  sev- 
eral months ;  and  it  has  dropped  out  of 
Miss    Marlowe's   repertory. 


78         Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

It  is  always  a  pity  when  so  fine  a  piece  of 
dramatic  writing  as  "  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie  " 
fails  to  make  a  strong  appeal  to  the  popular 
heart,  especially  at  this  time  when  so  many 
trivial  productions  find  wide  and  long  accept- 
ance. But,  as  has  already  been  noted  in 
these  pages,  the  poetic  drama  has  never 
found  much  favor  among  us.  Coppee's 
verse  naturally  suffered  from  its  transference 
into  another  speech  ;  and,  in  construction,  it 
was  by  no  means  without  a  flaw.  The  great 
situation,  in  fact,  the  scene  where  the  old 
patriarch,  Angus,  is  led  to  believe  that  his 
daughter  has  been  seduced  by  the  Prince, 
and  lashes  himself  into  fury,  is  spoiled  by 
the  knowledge  of  the  audience  that  the  girl 
is  innocent  and  that  her  father's  agitation  is 
due  to  a  misunderstanding.  The  pictures 
of  Scotch  life,  too,  made  from  the  point  of 
view  of  a  romantic  Frenchman,  hardly  en- 
dured close  examination.  Nevertheless,  the 
drama  contained  several  deeply  moving 
scenes,  and  was  conceived  and  executed  on  a 
high  plane. 


Colincttc,  Aft  III 


Colinette,  Act  ]  I J 


IX. 

AT  the  close  of  the  season  of  1896-97 
Miss  Marlowe  made  two  important 
changes  in  her  career.  She  placed  herself 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  Charles 
Frohman,  the  foremost  theatrical  manager  in 
the  country,  and  the  head  of  the  now 
famous  Theatrical  Syndicate,  or  Trust, 
formed  not  long  before ;  and  she  ceased  to 
travel  as  co-star  with  her  husband.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  business,  both  changes 
promised  to  be  advantageous.  Under  Mr. 
Frohman's  direction,  Miss  Marlowe  would 
have  the  benefit  of  the  power  of  the  syndi- 
cate, which  controlled  most  of  the  leading 
theatres  in  the  East  and  the  Middle  West. 
Her  decision  to  star  alone  was  the  direct 
consequence  of  her  association  with  the  syn- 
dicate. The  shrewd  managers  in  control  of 
this  combination  believed  that  she  would  be 
more  successful  alone  than  as  co-star  with 
her  husband.  Whatever  personal  suffering 
this  change  occasioned  may  not  be  recorded 
in  this  biography,  but  the  separation  will 
79 


8o  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

serve  to  illustrate  one  of  the  most  familiar 
and  most  distressing  features  of  theatrical 
life. 

At  the  close  of  their  last  season  together 
Miss  Marlowe  passed  the  summer  with  her 
husband  in  the  pretty  littk  Normandy  vil- 
lage of  Giverny,  the  home  of  Monet,  the 
impressionist  painter,  and  a  quiet  resort  for 
English  and  American  artists.  When  the 
time  came  for  her  return  to  America,  Mr. 
Taber  went  to  England  to  begin  a  new 
career.  Those  who  have  watched  his  prog- 
ress know  how  rapidly  he  became  a  favorite 
there,  and  how  conspicuous  a  position  he 
now  holds  on  the  English  stage.  His  suc- 
cesses have  included^his  Macduff,  in  support 
of  Mr.  Forbes  Robertson's  Macbeth  and 
the  Lady  Macbeth  of  Mrs.  Patrick  Camp- 
bell, and  his  performance  in  the  company  of 
Sir  Henry  Irving  of  the  leading  juvenile 
part  in  "  Peter  the  Great." 

During  the  first  season  with  the  syndicate 
Miss  Marlowe  played  in  her  old  repertory 
and  in  a  new  piece  adapted  from  the  German 
of    Rudolph  Straltz,  called    in   the    original 


yiilia  Marlozue  8i 

"The  Tall  Prussian"  and  in  translation 
"The  Countess  Valeska."  It  proved  to  ht 
a  strong  romantic  drama,  with  a  part  emi- 
nently suited  to  Miss  Marlowe's  youth  and 
abilities.  In  it  she  gave  evidence  of  more 
technical  skill  than  she  previously  had  been 
able  to  attain.  She  even  displayed  a  certain 
authority  of  manner.  After  seeing  the  work 
in  the  English  version,  one  could  under- 
stand the  reason  for  its  vogue  in  Berlin  dur- 
ing the  previous  year.  It  was  one  of  the 
few  absolutely  serious  plays  produced  in  New 
York  during  the  season.  Of  humor  it  had 
none,  though  a  certain  relief  was  afforded  by 
the  subordinate  episodes  in  which  the  two 
young  lovers  figured.  The  scene  was  laid  in 
Poland  in  1807.  The  Countess  Valeska 
loved  a  young  Prussian  officer,  whom  she 
concealed  in  her  house  at  the  very  time 
when  she  was  offering  hospitality  to  Napo- 
leon, her  country's  "  saviour."  By  chance 
she  discovered  that  her  husband  was  plotting 
against  the  emperor,  and  patriotism  forced 
her  to  betray  him.  The  piece  was  saturated 
with  emotion  and   resounded  with   the  clash 


82  Sock  &  Buskin  Biographies 

of  arms;  but  the  sentiment  always  rang  true, 
and  the  dramatic  episodes  were  developed 
without  the  sacrifice  of  probability.  It  was 
received  with  warm  appreciation  on  the 
road,  and  for  several  weeks  in  New  York 
it  attracted  large  audiences  to  the  Knicker- 
bocker Theatre.  Though  Miss  Marlowe 
had  by  this  time  become  well  established 
in  the  esteem  of  New  York  playgoers,  this 
engagement  made  her  a  great  favorite.  In 
fact,  it  placed  her  among  the  most  success- 
ful of  American  players.  Those  who  had 
previously  felt  doubts  regarding  her  future, 
now  saw  that  her  position  was  assured. 

"  The  Countess  Valeska "  served  Miss 
Marlowe  for  two  seasons,  presented  during 
its  second  year  with  "  As  You  Like  It "  and 
with  a  new  piece  from  the  French  called 
"  Colinette."  It  is  not  unlikely  that  she 
will  revive  it  occasionally  in  seasons  to  come. 
In  "  Colinette  "  she  has  repeated  the  success 
won  in  "  The  Countess  Valeska,"  though 
these  two  pieces  are  not  for  one  moment 
to  be  ranked  together  in  merit.  Whatever 
"  Colinette  "   may  have  been  in  the  original. 


Jnlia  Marlo7ue  83 

in  the  version  prepared  by  Mr.  Henrv  Guy 
Carleton  and  revised  by  Miss  Marlowe  her- 
self, it  is  one  of  the  most  insipid  and  fatuous 
comedies  presented  in  this  country  in  several 
seasons.  It  offered  Miss  Marlowe,  however, 
a  graceful  and  charming  character,  in  which 
many  of  her  admirers  were  glad  to  see  her. 
To  those,  however,  who  had  followed  her 
work  from  the  start  and  who  appreciated  her 
ambition  to  become  known  as  an  interpreter 
of  Shakspere,  it  seemed  a  pity  that  she 
should  waste  her  talent  on  such  material. 
Financially,  the  season  in  which  she  played 
"  Colinette "  was  the  most  prosperous  she 
had  ever  known:  artistically,  it  was  almost 
barren.  Not  once  during  the  year  did  she 
appear  as  Juliet,  though  this  was  the  part 
that  she  wished  most  to  play.  It  is  worth 
noting  that,  during  the  closing  months  of 
this  season.  Miss  Maude  Adams,  also  man- 
aged by  Mr.  Charles  Frohman,  made  her 
triumphal  tour  with  her  production  ot 
"  Romeo  and    Juliet." 

Karly  in  the  autumn  ot    1899    Miss    Mar- 
lowe   began    her   season    with    a    revival    ot 


84  Sock  &  Bnskin  Biographies 

"  Colinette "  and  with  preparations  for  the 
production  of  a  new  drama  written  for  her 
by  Mr.  Clyde  Fitch.  This  work  she  pre- 
sented early  in  October  in  Philadelphia  and 
a  few  weeks  later  in  New  York  under  the 
title  of  "  Barbara  Frietchie,  the  Frederick 
Girl."  As  the  name  suggests,  the  piece  had 
been  suggested  by  Whittier's  famous  poem. 
Mr.  Fitch  took  liberties  with  the  story,  as 
he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do.  He  made 
Barbara  Frietchie  a  young  woman,  and  the 
central  figure  in  a  series  of  romantic  and 
wholly  imaginary  incidents  which  led  to  the 
climax  exploited  in  the  poem,  where  Bar- 
bara waves  the  Union  flag  in  defiance  of  the 
rebel  soldiers  passing  her  house.  Perhaps 
the  best  that  can  be  said  of  the  piece  is  that 
it  provided  Miss  Marlowe  with  a  character 
which  she  played  better  than  she  had  ever 
played  a  modern  part  before.  As  the  young 
Southern  girl,  won  over  to  the  cause  of  the 
North  by  her  love  for  a  Northern  soldier^ 
she  was  delightfully  vivacious  in  the  early 
scenes ;  and,  as  the  character  deepened  in 
feeling  and  intensity,  she  showed  a  remark- 


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CcjlilK'ttC,    Act    I  \' 


As  Barbara  Frictchie 


yiilia  Marlowe  85 

able  command   of  her  abilities,  acting  with 
exceptional  sureness  and  powers. 

Unfortunately,  the  piece  did  not  sustain 
the  chief  part,  which,  by  the  way,  kept  the 
actress  on  the  stage  nearly  all  the  time. 
The  first  act  had  decided  originality,  and  was 
a  natural  and  graceful  bit  of  writing,  infused 
with  simple  and  wholesome  romance.  The 
scene  disclosed  a  street  in  Frederick,  with 
groups  of  prettily  dressed  Southern  girls 
sitting  on  the  doorsteps.  The  betrothal, 
on  the  steps,  of  Barbara  and  her  soldier- 
lover  was  the  prettiest  love-scene  yet  written 
by  Mr.  Fitch  ;  and  it  was  very  beautifully 
played  by  Miss  Marlowe  and  Mr.  J.  H. 
Gilmore.  The  second  act,  too,  at  the  house 
of  the  clergvman  who  was  to  unite  the 
lovers,  contained  a  good  deal  of  clever 
work.  But  after  the  sudden  separation  of 
the  lovers  by  the  outbreak  of  fighting,  before 
they  had  time  to  marry,  the  piece  became 
unreal  and  melodramatic,  l^ven  Miss  Mar- 
lowe's natural  treatment  of  scenes  in  the 
third  act  could  not  keep  them  from  approxi- 
mating the  ridiculous.      The  death    of  Bar- 


86         Sock  &  BtisJcin  Biographies 

bara's  lover,  however,  in  the  first  scene  of 
the  final  act,  was  very  well  handled ;  but  the 
flaunting  of  the  flag  by  the  grief-stricken 
Barbara  proved  to  be  wholly  unsuited  to 
stage  purposes,  giving  the  impression  not  of 
a  noble  patriotism,  but  of  girlish  hysteria. 

Miss  Marlowe  is  now  so  strongly  estab- 
lished that  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the 
success  of  her  future  career.  It  is  not  likely 
that  she  will  ever  acquire  great  force :  this 
is  denied  her  by  her  physique  and  by  her 
temperament ;  but  she  has  other  qvialities 
just  as  valuable,  which  have  already  been 
emphasized  in  this  brief  narrative.  Best  of 
all,  she  has  taste  and  insight,  both  of  which 
are  sure  to  keep  her  steadily  developing  on 
artistic  lines.  Thus  far  she  has  not  been 
seen  out  of  her  own  country.  For  several 
seasons  she  has  been  planning  to  make  her 
debut  in  England.  Years  ago  Madame  Sarah 
Bernhardt,  who  has  been  one  of  her  warmest 
admirers,  urged  her  to  play  in  London. 
When,  finally,  she  does  appear  there,  she 
will  show  her  talent  broadened  by  a  valuable 
experience  in  many  kinds  of  acting;  and  it 


Julia  Marlowe  87 

is  safe  to  predict  that  her  quaHty  will  be 
appreciated.  Meanwhile  she  is  still  a  young 
woman,  and  with  her  gifts  and  her  ambitions 
a  great  deal  of  fine  work  may  be  expected 
from  her. 


PRINTED  BV  Gi:0.  H.  1-1. LIS 
AT  272  CONGRESS  STREET 
BOSTON,  FOR  RICHARD 
G.  BADGER  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 
BOSTON 


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